


oh my god, they were roommates

by demigodbeautiies



Series: two bros in a shared flat (no feet apart because they're gay) [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Anxiety, Emotional Baggage, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nico di Angelo is Bad at Feelings, Oh god just so many emotions, POV Nico di Angelo, Slow Burn, canon typical dead sisters, roommate au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 36,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25193563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demigodbeautiies/pseuds/demigodbeautiies
Summary: “How goes the hunt for a new roommate?” Hazel asked, looking up from her laptop. Clearly there was always time enough to take a break and harass Nico about his worst fears, realised.“Hellish,” he replied.“Actually, about that-” Jason began, smiling as if his decision to move out was anything other than a cruel betrayal of one of his closest friends. “I think I’ve found you someone.”
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, side Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, side Thalia Grace/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Series: two bros in a shared flat (no feet apart because they're gay) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019602
Comments: 85
Kudos: 523





	1. October

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy! This has been a labour of love and I'm very excited to share it!
> 
> So, I wrote something similar a very, very long time ago (which I won't link because it was not even close to one of my best works) but I've revamped it into... this! A big ol' work in progress, that should end up at 8 chapters. 
> 
> I'll update tags with each chapter, and keep an eye on chapter names for a bit of guidance with the timeline :)

Nico di Angelo wasn’t aware how long he had been waiting for his coffee. 

He wasn’t really aware of anything. 

He’d had two hours of sleep - maybe two and a half, or maybe fewer? What was for sure was that he had pulled himself to bed after finally finishing his reading, closer to dawn than he would ever admit to his friends, only to be roused into consciousness by the blaring of his 7am alarm.

God curse him for taking an 8am class. 

And so he stood, waiting for an indeterminate amount of time for his black coffee in the cafe across the road from his lecture hall. One earphone in, a ratty grey backpack over his shoulder, and his books under his arm. 

“-co? Nico!” 

He blinked, refocusing his eyes to catch the barista roll her eyes in his direction. 

“Honestly, what’s the point of even showing up to your classes if you’re going to be comatose for them?” she said. Before her sat his steely grey travel mug, full and steaming. 

“Hello to you too, Hazel,” he replied with a sigh. “Attendance is marked, and goes towards our final grade.” 

“Does it count if you’re dead to the world?”

“You know I can and will rat you out for shitty customer service, right?” 

“What, report your own cousin? You wound me!” Hazel said. “Besides, you know all the regulars love me here.” 

Nico smiled, the briefest thing, and picked up his cup as he turned to leave. “I’m going to be late. Tell Frank I said -”

“Fuck! Shit -”

He cut himself off with a curse, as his steaming coffee went from his hands, to all down his shirt.

His cup clattered to the floor with a disgustingly loud clanging noise, drawing the attention of the other students waiting in line for their caffeine fix. The young mother sat near the window glared, as if it was his fault.

“Oh my god! Oh, my god, I’m so sorry! Oh god -”

Stood in front of Nico was a god. 

He blinked, wincing as he pulled his sticky and steaming shirt away from his skin. No, not a god, even if he was built like one. A very panicked looking young man, with bright blonde hair and a look of sheer terror on his face. 

He was still rambling. 

“I’m so, so sorry. Are you hurt? Let me get you another cup. Oh my god, I am _so_ sorry -”

“Jesus, it’s fine -” Nico said as he bent to pick up his things from where they lay strewn across the floor.

_Damn it._ He cursed internally as he noticed dark stains begin to spread along the pages of his books. 

The blonde man was on his knees before Nico, armed with napkins - _where had he got napkins? -_ and still rambling. 

“How the _fuck_ are you talking so much? It’s 8am.” Nico spat, instantly regretting it when the man before him jumped, looking like he had been kicked. He looked at Nico with wide, earnest eyes and his bottom lip caught between his teeth and _fuck_ it was too early to deal with any of this. It was just too fucking early.

He just wanted to get his coffee and leave. Why did men have to be like this? _Why do you have to be a gay disaster, more like-_

“Nico! Stop being a dickhead,” Hazel called, rousing him back to the situation at hand. She was leaning over the collection counter. In her hands she held another cup - her own purple and gold travel mug. “And get your ass moving, or else you _will_ be late. We’ll clean up.”

He looked between Hazel and the blonde man, who now held one of Nico’s slightly damp books outstretched. The man gave him a smile, which Nico returned by grabbing the book out of his hands less angrily than he may have done otherwise. 

“See you later, Hazel,” he said, stepping around the man without another glance, and heading out the door. 

He promptly looked at his phone and cursed - he really was running late. 

-

“Well, I guess it’s lucky you only ever wear black, right?” 

“I most definitely wear more than just black.” 

“Okay, two things: first, bull, and second, shit.” 

Nico rolled his eyes, looking up from the notes he was sorting. They had been tucked into the books he had dropped earlier that morning, and he had been checking through to see if they were salvageable. It wasn’t looking good so far.

“Thank you, Jason, for that very sound argument,” he said. “You truly know what to add to a conversation.” Jason shrugged with a smile. 

“How goes the hunt for a new roommate?” Hazel asked, looking up from her laptop. She had joined them saying she _really had to finish this assignment, guys,_ but clearly there was always time enough to take a break and harass Nico about his worst fears, realised. 

“Hellish,” he replied. He figured it was a good idea to not be too dramatic about the situation.

“Actually, about that-” Jason began, smiling as if his decision to move in with his sister in an apartment closer to his job in town was anything other than a cruel betrayal of one of his closest friends. “I think I’ve found you someone.” 

“Jason, please -”

“He’s super nice, literally the sweetest guy I’ve ever met and super fun to hang out with-”

“Literally neither of those points could do a worse job of trying to sell this-”

“He’s basically at work the whole time, the whole nurse thing -”

  
“Jason -”

  
“- and I may have-” at this he stopped, looking sheepish. _Dear God,_ Nico thought, _please tell me he didn’t…_ “- already invited him over today?” 

“For God’s sake,” Nico said, closing his book with a huff. 

At least he had the sense to seem guilty about it. 

“When am I meeting this guy?” 

-

Nico di Angelo was not aware how long he had been staring, mouth damn near agape, at the man that stood in front of him. 

“Is that Will?” Jason called, muffled behind a few walls from where he stood in their kitchen. 

“Hi,” the beautiful, tall, stunning _rambling coffee-dropping_ blonde man from that morning said. “I’m Will. You must be Nico?”

Internally, he was screaming. _Will Solace, 4th year Medical Student and Trainee Nurse, beautiful Adonis like creation with hair of gold and a smile that could kill a man -_

“Yeah,” he croaked. “Nico di Angelo.” 

“Hey, Will! Nice to see you, man,” Jason said, rounding the corner. He pulled Will into a bro hug and _oh god he just casually does a bro hug, and that_ smile _, Jesus -_

And then Jason was speaking, telling Will about the apartment, “Close enough to the Hospital for you, but not too close, y’know?”, and leading him away from Nico. 

What just happened?  
  


He trailed after them at a distance, following them around the kitchen, shared spaces, and to the soon to be spare room. _Curse you Jason Grace, once again, for moving -_

“Oh, that’s the timer! You’re staying for dinner, right?” he asked, giving Will a beaming smile before leaving the two of them alone without a chance to answer. 

“So, this’ll be your room,” Nico said, shifting his gaze into the small room stuffed with boxes and a few of Jason’s things. The longer he puzzled out how Jason was still living out of his suitcase, the less he had to worry about eye contact with his, apparently, soon to be roommate. 

He vaguely registered Will _beaming -_ how was that something people even did in real life? - and saying something about how nice it looked. 

Ugh. 

“Awesome, thanks!” He put his hand out to Nico, who felt like he looked like death but still apparently screamed “I like human contact!” to this guy. 

“I’m, uh-” he stammered, looking in slight panic down the hallway Jason had just disappeared into. More importantly, looking away from the _hair_ and the _smile_ and the _eyes_ and the _everything_ that was Will Solace: trainee nurse, friend to everyone, and second in positivity only to Jason Grace. 

This was going to be fucking _wonderful_.

-

He moved in fast. 

Suddenly Jason had all his boxes cleared out and ready for the drive up to his sister’s apartment, with a final reminder for Nico to “come visit, it’s only like 20 minutes!”

And then before he knew it, Will had been outside Nico’s front door smiling brightly with towers of boxes behind him. 

Nico had fought back a sigh, but still stepped out of his way to go back to hiding in his bedroom. Will could find the key Jason had left him on the kitchen counter himself. 

It had taken half a month into their new arrangement for Nico to lose his mind. 

“I swear,” he said, throwing his hand up in exasperation. His backpack slipped down his shoulder. “He doesn’t know the meaning of the words ‘alone time’!” 

“Have you considered asking for it nicely?” Hazel asked. “You know, using your ‘please’s and ‘thank you’s?”

“I’m always nice,” Nico grumbled, and Hazel laughed. They were trudging up the stairs to Nico and Will's apartment. It was a quiet, run down building full of students and young families, but it wasn't far from campus, and Nico could afford it.

Nico shut the door with a slam behind Hazel as she walked in. “The book’s in my room, hang on-” 

He was interrupted by a tall figure slamming into him from the side the moment he walked into his living room.

“Fuck!” he swore, and then he was on the floor amongst the stray shoes and Will’s houseplants. 

“Oh, god! Oh, god, sorry, Nico-” Will said, leaning down and reaching for his arm. 

Nico yanked his hand away, sending a glare up at his roommate. “Dude,” he said. 

“Sorry! No touching, yup, I know, I’m sorry-” Will said, throwing his hands up and laughing awkwardly. 

“Nico? You good?” Hazel called, peering around the corner to where he sat on the floor. Will looked over his shoulders, and Nico caught a smile growing across Hazel's face from his spot below the two of them. 

“Oh!” Will said, snapping his fingers. “I know you! You work at the cafe across from the library, right?”

“That’s the one,” Hazel said. “You must be Will?”

He nodded, smiling brightly. _God, how was it possible for someone to be_ bright _all the time? Did he not run out of batteries or something?_

“I’m really sorry,” he continued. “I’m afraid I can’t remember your name.”

“Does Nico not mention me as much as he mentions you? I’m offended,” Hazel said, sliding her eyes towards her cousin. 

_Fuck you,_ Nico thought. If he thought it loud enough, this time she would hear it. 

He pushed himself up to stand. He wasn’t going to be mocked in his own home while he sat on the floor. 

“I’m Hazel,” she said, reaching her hand out to Will with a smile. “The only person who can make him finish his vegetables.” 

Nico rolled his eyes. 

  
“I’m not a child-”  
  


“Oh, say that to the pile of bell peppers you always pick out when I make you a chilli.”

“Listen, I love your chilli, but there’s always _so much-”_

“Mm, is that maybe because you don’t eat more than half of anything I ever give you?” Hazel asked, very accusingly. She looked pointedly at Nico’s ribs, and it was all he could do to not cross his arms over his stomach like a petulant child. 

Nico could see Will glancing between them as they bickered. _Stare a little longer,_ he thought, _maybe you’ll finally figure out it’s time for you to leave._

“As much as I’d love to find out what you’re putting poor Will through,” Hazel said. Will laughed - _the traitor._ “I have to go. Where’s the book?”

Nico rolled his eyes. Wordlessly, he walked around Will to his bedroom door. 

“See you later, Will!” Hazel called. Nico could hear him start a chipper response before shutting his bedroom door with a click behind Hazel.

“He’s nice,” she commented, glancing around his room. 

Nico frowned at her. “He’s insufferable.”

“I think you’re just being grumpy,” she replied. 

“Here’s the book,” he said in response, tossing her his copy of _Frankenstein._ Because Hazel said she just _had_ to borrow it, _can I come get it from your house please?_

She had no subtlety, but Nico still couldn’t say no to her. 

“You’ve finally met him, now leave us be.”

-

Nico spent a lot of time drowning out his thoughts in books. It worked wonders. 

He was pulled from the words on the page by a low grumble from his stomach. 

He grumbled, pressing his hands to his eyes.

He had never had a large appetite, but he was still as cursed by human anatomy as any other mortal, and that meant he had to make himself food. As much as Hazel teased, he was painfully aware of the need to eat, and he succeeded in eating at least once every day, thanks very much. 

He nudged his book away and stood, wandering out towards the kitchen in a bit of a daze. God, he must have been reading for hours. 

His focus ebbed and flowed, but when he really got into something, everything else just disappeared. It was like he was drawn away from everything until his ability to focus on anything else was gone.

He was brought back to attention sharply and suddenly when he walked into the kitchen to see a flame shoot up two feet above their stove top. Will jerked back, stumbling into their kitchen table and sending a pepper shaker tumbling to the ground with a clang.

Nico moved, striding up to the stove and shoving the frying pan, still spitting oil, off of the heat. He turned the burner off. 

“Jesus _Christ_ ,” Nico said loudly. He took a deep breath: nothing was on fire. His heart was still thudding. He looked towards Will. 

Will was crouching on the floor, gripping the counter with white knuckles. His eyes were wide, and he had what looked like a slice of carrot stuck to his cheek. 

Nico didn’t try to be mean - he didn’t like it, particularly. His shoulders shook with the effort of fighting down a fit of laughter at the gobsmacked expression plastered on Will’s face. 

“You’ve, uh, got a little-” he said, cutting himself off to try and choke back another laugh. Will reached up to his cheek, touching the carrot with light fingers.

  
Very gently, almost cautiously, and hardly audible, Will said, “fuck.”

That set Nico off: before he could rationalise it, it burst out of him. He bent forward, clutching his stomach and laughing, leaning heavily against the counter. 

Will laughed, an incredulous sound. 

There was tomato sauce on the wall. Carrots on the floor. What looked like it could be _even more carrot_ in Will’s hair - 

“Jesus, get up,” Nico said, checking once more to see if the stove was off. “Let’s go get some food.”

\---

“I feel like I don’t know anything about you,” Will asked as they slid into their seats. 

He had led Nico to a diner on the corner of a quiet road. It was relatively empty, but looked like somewhere that would be full of students at any other time of day, likely overlooked by the locals.

Nico shrugged. That may or may not have been intentional. 

Will didn’t seem phased. He looked at Nico with bright eyes. “You’re an English major?”

“Yeah,” he responded. When Will kept looking at him, Nico shot his gaze down at the table. _No thank you, prolonged eye contact -_

“Cool! Do you do any sports? Or clubs? Or-”

“It’s not my kind of thing,” Nico said, cutting him off. _God, help him, this was going to be a long night._

“I get you. How did you meet Jason then?” 

Nico puzzled over that. It felt too convoluted to explain that his former English tutor was dating Jason’s sister and that meant Jason came as part of a sort of package deal, but - 

“Mutual friends,” he settled on. It'd do.

“Is that how you know Hazel?” 

“We’re cousins,” he said. Will made a noise of understanding, a gentle “ah.”

“Big family?”

  
“No.”

“I totally thought she was your girlfriend at first,” Will said with a laugh. 

Nico stilled. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for people to think, although the assumption felt no less weird. And yet-

“I’m single,” he said, voice sharp. That was all Will needed to know. Will nodded, hardly even noticing the venom in his voice. 

“Yeah, I feel you. It’s just _so_ hard to meet anyone, and it doesn’t feel especially smart to get into a relationship right before my fourth year of med school-” 

Nico let his words run over him, tuning him out. _Fucking straight people,_ he thought, begrudgingly. 

Will carried the conversation through the rest of the night, and Nico let him. He answered questions succinctly where needed and took care to butt in with something snarky whenever the opportunity arose.

But eventually, Will’s enthusiasm began to curb. Nico glanced at his phone. 

It was already 12:30. Nico’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. _No wonder he was quiet_ , he thought with a quick glance at him. He was leaning his head heavily on his palm. _He’s half asleep._

“Not a night owl?” Nico asked, pulling out his wallet and dropping a few bills on the table. 

Will shook his head. “I rise with the sun,” he murmured, laughing lightly. “I hear that’s not your deal.”

“I won’t wake you up if you don’t wake me up,” he said. Will smiled. 

“You don’t. I just worry. Undersleeping can be real bad for you,” he said quietly. An unfamiliar but distinctly uncomfortable feeling started swirling in Nico’s stomach. 

“Come on,” he said, standing up and looking at Will. “Let’s get you home.”

“Okay,” Will said, sliding out of his seat. His eyes were still bright; it was like his brain had just decided it was time to go to sleep. “Thanks for coming out to dinner with me. I had fun.”

Nico bit the inside of his cheek. 

“Yeah,” he said. “Me too.”


	2. November

The library was quiet, save for the tapping of laptop keyboards and the turning of old, overused pages. Midterms were truly in swing. 

Nico was deep into _Jane Eyre_ , drowning out the noise of frantic studying with his own dive into analysis and essay writing. 

He had two more days to finish his paper. It was fine. 

The bags under his eyes disagreed, but they’d just have to deal with it. 

Nico was drawn out of his book and his thoughts as a gym bag emblazoned with the Athletics department’s logo was dropped down onto the table across from him. A tall woman stood next to it, holding out a cup of coffee to him. 

“Reyna,” he said, with a more earnest feeling than he thought he could muster, “I love you.” 

She laughed. “Hazel told me to tell you that she wasn’t going to make you another today, so you better enjoy it.” 

Nico leaned back, stretching out his back. How long had he been reading for? A glance out the window showed a darkening sky, and he groaned. 

“Too much left?” Reyna asked, settling down and beginning to pull out her books. 

“Always too much left,” Nico said with a grumble. He spun his pencil in his hand, staring down at the page before him. Did any of his annotations make sense? Fuck, he’d have to start the chapter over. 

“If that’s for Hedge’s class, I can dig out my paper from last year,” she said. 

“Again,” he said, leaning forward to grasp her hands in his. “I love you.” 

Reyna laughed. “I don’t think Thalia would be too happy to hear that.”

  
Nico grumbled. 

“How’s the new roommate?” Reyna asked. Nico huffed. 

“He’s trying so hard to be a good roommate,” he said. 

“That’s good, no?” 

“No,” Nico grumbled. “He’s trying  _ too  _ hard to be a good roommate. He doesn’t know how to be anything but friendly.”

  
“Ah,” Reyna said. “We all know how well you deal with people being friendly.” 

Nico frowned at her, but she seemed too focused on the papers before her to pay it any mind. 

“Invite him to Thanksgiving,” she mused, but with the focus she had on the notes before her, he wasn’t even sure she knew she had said it. “Make him someone else’s problem for a day?” 

“Uh-” he started surprised by her offer, before pausing to think. “I don’t know.”

Reyna shrugged. “You could use it to make Jason give him a crash course in Nico habits,” she said. 

Now there was an idea. 

He thought it through. Would Will even want to go? 

“Would it really be okay?” He asked instead, after a period of silence. Reyna nodded. 

“It’s part of the tradition, anyway. What’s his family like?” 

“Big,” he said. That was all he really knew, and even that was information gathered from what he overheard Will say when he was on the phone. “I imagine they’re all like he is.”

At this, Reyna looked up at him. 

“You’d be surprised what some people’s families are like,” she said. 

He was quiet. His family wasn’t the picture of functionality, but then again, neither was he. 

“Maybe,” he muttered. “I guess we’ll see.”

-

Nico and Will had taken to sitting together in the evenings, working side by side in amicable silence. More out of necessity than anything else, Nico felt - he couldn't cope with studying in one spot, and it didn't seem like Will could either.

Will had spread out on the sofa, laptop open on his chest. Instead of joining him on the sofa, Nico had decide to curl up on the floor, book in his lap, pencil tucked behind his ear. 

He had moved on to  _ Dracula,  _ drawn into it for the second time to make even more annotations. Reyna's old papers could only do so much to help him.

“I’m sorry, Mom, I just- Yeah, I know-” 

Nico looked up from his book, drawn out by Will's voice. What time was it, again? God, everything felt foggy.

He looked up at his roommate; he was staring at the ceiling with an unreadable look on his face, his mouth set in a hard line as if he had a mouth full of jawbreakers. 

“Yeah,” He said again, voice strained. “Sure thing. Bye.”

He heard Will sigh, heavily, then gently: “Shit.”

Will had brought his hands up to press against his eyes. 

“You heading anywhere for the week off?” he asked, shifting his hands down off his face to glance down at Nico. He had let his hand drop off the edge of the sofa, gently laying his phone on the floor. 

“No,” Nico said. He never went anywhere, really, had no family to go and visit. Well, none that would welcome him.

Will hummed. Nico felt his eyes on him, and looked back at him. It looked like he was clenching his jaw, hard.

“You?” Nico asked. Will shook his head.

“I still have to work at the hospital during the week,” he said with a sigh, shutting his laptop with a clap. “Mom’s not happy.”

Nico frowned. The phone call made a bit more sense now. The very few times he had spoken to his dad on the phone, he had probably sounded the same. 

He thought back to what Reyna had said earlier that week.  _ You’d be surprised what some people’s families are like. _

“Hey,” he said, turning back around to meet Will’s eyes. “Do you want to join me and Hazel?”

Will looked up again, blinking in surprise. Slowly, a smile spread over his face. 

“I’d love to.”

-

It was a Wednesday. The day before Thanksgiving, but his friends had never been one for tradition. Nico and Will stood in the crisp November air outside a weathered looking townhouse. 

After inviting him, Nico had decided to take Reyna’s advice fully. He shot Jason a text earlier that morning to ask in his most polite terms - he didn’t even swear! - to talk some sense into Will the way nice people do. 

“Oh, do you think they’ll mind that I didn’t bring any food?” Will asked, glancing from Nico to the door and back again for the umpteenth time. Nico rolled his eyes. 

“You brought wine; that’s all they’re going to notice,” he said. 

The door swung open. Annabeth stood in front of them. 

“Oh, hey!” she said, stepping back. Then, to the nebulous void of the rest of the home, “Nico’s here!” 

A distant cheer went through the house. 

“Welcome to Reyna’s house,” Annabeth said, nodding them in. “She’s currently fighting with yams, so I’m on door duty.” 

Will smiled, a wide, bright, beaming thing. Nico rolled his eyes.  _ Such a charmer,  _ he thought, then;  _ how on earth is he single? _

“I’m Will,” he said, ducking his head to Annabeth. She laughed.

“Nico’s roommate, right? You’ve come up before,” she said. Nico spluttered. 

“I haven’t said _anything_ about him-”

“Oh, I wasn’t talking about you,” she said, looking at Nico with an infuriating grin on her face. “You know how fast news spreads.” 

Will laughed, stepping out of his boots and glancing around the entryway, going on about ‘how beautifully decorated this is, you said this is Reyna’s home? I just have to meet her-’

Nico slipped wordlessly down the hallway to the kitchen, bypassing the room filled with people as silently as he could. He was in for a whole afternoon of socialising: he could start slow with the people he actually liked. 

When he spotted Reyna leaning over a pot on the stove and huffing, he cheered internally.

“Hey,” he said, sliding up next to her and reaching to grab a mug from the cupboard. “How are the yams?”

“They’re going to suffer,” she muttered, peering closer to them.

“Have you boiled them?” 

She turned to glare at him. 

“You’re a little brat, di Angelo,” she said. “and put that down, that’s the cooking wine.” 

He set down the half empty bottle of wine he had been about to pour, feeling chastised. Reyna swiped it from the counter as he put it down, taking a swig and ignoring his spluttering. 

“I’m the chef, I can do that,” she said, waving off his astonishment. 

“Nico!” a voice cried, startling him. “It’s been ages, dude!”

“Thalia,” he said slowly, turning around on his socked feet to look at her.

He had a strange relationship with Thalia Grace. 

His two best friends were her brother and her girlfriend, respectfully, so he couldn’t exactly be mean to her. But - 

Her father had known his, and every memory Nico had of her was tainted by the sharp pain of remembering living with his sister and his father, or worse, the pain of his life right after it. When he was out of the house and on his own. No matter how often he had seen her around since, there was a sour association there that he didn’t want to relive. 

He cut himself off. This wasn’t the time for it.

“You’re just in time,” she said, coming up behind Reyna and snaking her arms around her girlfriend. “Once Rey finishes up these bad boys, it’s dinner.”

“Cool,” he said. “I’ll go wait with the others.” 

He found the others piled in the dining room, sat around a lavishly spread table and already deep into the wine. Will had snagged a seat next to Hazel, and he smiled when Nico appeared, nodding at the free chair between him and Piper. 

  
Gratefully, Nico sat next to him. He didn’t have a huge problem with anyone there, but he didn’t want a repeat of the year he had been stuck between Frank and Leo. There was a reason that this year the two of them were sat very firmly on opposite sides of the room.

“Okay, the yams have arrived, bitches,” Thalia crowed, walking in with a steaming bowl held above her head. Reyna followed, bottle of wine under her arm and a full glass in hand. 

“Cheers, guys,” Jason said, reaching across the table to clink his glass with anyone who raised theirs. 

“So, how long has this been a thing?” Will asked, glancing between Nico and the few other faces around the table he seemed to recognise. 

Nico shrugged. “It started before I was around.” 

Thalia spoke up. “Well, me and Jason have a shitty mom and a dickhead dad -” Jason hummed in agreement. “and decided to stop visiting. Eventually we picked up all the strays.” 

“And the gays,” Reyna mused, leaning on her girlfriend. Thalia grinned. 

“My family is sensible enough to know this holiday is colonial fuckery,” Piper said, leaning around Nico to look at Will. She continued to gratefully scoop up a portion of potatoes from the bowl before her. “but I still wanted a good meal.” 

“I go home for October Thanksgiving,” Frank added.

“Canadian Thanksgiving is bullshit!” Leo called from across the table. 

“All Thanksgivings are bullshit,” Piper replied, just as loud.

“But why Thanksgiving _Wednesday_?” Will pressed. 

“This one is never here on the Thursday,” Jason said, nudging Percy. Percy shoved him off, and reached over him to grab a mug full of gravy. “It’s rare enough to see him at Thanksgiving Wednesday anyway. Are you leaving Sally alone on this fine November evening?”

“We’re heading up tomorrow,” Percy griped. “She’s visiting Paul’s family tonight anyway.”

“As if he would ever leave his Mom alone on Thanksgiving,” Annabeth teased, leaning against Percy. 

“Listen, I love my mom!” 

Nico snickered. Will was watching the scene like a tennis match, his eyes catching on each of the characters around the table. 

“How about you, Nico, not much for a family Thanksgiving?” Will asked, turning the attention towards his roommate. 

Nico paused, stopping to scoop up peas as they were passed to him. He could feel Jason glance at him from across the table, before loudly suggesting to Piper that she discuss some of the forgotten history of the holiday. 

“I don’t really have anywhere else to go,” he said, quieter, finding his voice under the volume of Piper's. This was just for Will. 

He was quiet, paying attention and listening.

“I never knew my mom,” he said.  _ And my sister is dead,  _ he thought, before shutting that thought down. Another time. “My dad lives across the country and doesn’t give a shit about me. I just have Hazel, and she’s always here at Thanksgiving Wednesdays.” 

“I’m sorry,” Will said. He had set down his silverware. “I shouldn’t have pried.” 

Nico shrugged. “It’s fine, you were bound to find out.” 

“No, Nico, it’s not fine,” he said, more firmly “You should be able to tell me stuff like this in your own time. I’m sorry.” 

Nico looked up at him, blinking. He looked.... intense. “Uh,” he said, eloquently. “Thanks?"

Will nodded. His blue eyes gleamed. 

“Now," he said, looking up. "I heard there are yams."

-

The meal lasted well until mid afternoon, and the wine kept flowing throughout. 

“Alright, grab the sticks,” Annabeth said, leaning back in her chair with a huff. 

“What?” Will asked, voice delighted as he looked to Nico. 

“The dish sticks,” Nico said - was it not obvious? “To decide who does the dishes?”

“Reyna is excused as host and cook,” Jason explained, taking pity on him. “and Percy is excused as this year’s main booze supplier.” 

At that, Percy raised his glass of wine, knocking it back. 

“You’re excused as a plus one,” Reyna continued. “Unless this is a date, in which case, you’re automatically counted as a loser, and have to do the dishes with your boo.”

Nico flushed. 

Will laughed; “Not tonight, although I’m flattered-” 

“Okay,” Percy said, cutting him off. He turned around with a flourish and a handful of sticks that he pulled out of nowhere. “Draw!”

Nico grumbled as he looked at the twig in his hand. He had lost, and known it the moment he’d drawn. He swore Jackson rigged it, somehow. 

“Looks like it’s a family job,” Hazel said with a laugh, knocking her sticks with his around Will. 

“You don’t get out of helping us clear the table,” he said, looking at his roommate and pushing himself up to start towards the kitchen. "and don't drink all the wine!"

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

-

Nico huffed, looking at the pile of dishes before him. He had gone through what seemed like thousands, and yet, here they still were. They seemed like they would never end. 

The kitchen had grown quiet as his friends finished depositing dishes from the table and headed back into the living room. Their footsteps faded out of the kitchen, down the hall, and into another room. He could hear music playing softly around the laughter and idle chatter from down the hall, as he continued to soak and scrub. 

“So,” he said, breaking the gentle, easy quiet. “How’s Frank?”

Hazel set down the bowl she had been drying and rested the hand towel on the counter. He could feel her eyes on him.

“What are you really asking?” she said, voice sharp. He shot her a look. 

“I think you know what I’m asking,” he said. 

He knew she wasn’t actually annoyed; he could spot her defense mechanism from a mile away.

She was quiet for another beat. 

“It’s… fine. We’re fine.” 

Nico stayed silent, waiting for her to carry on. 

“There isn’t much to tell, if I’m honest,” she said. “We hang out at work. Sometimes I see him when he’s leaving Archery practice. We don’t see much more of each other.” 

Nico nodded, scrubbing at a pie tin. 

“You know he’s into you, right?” he said, glancing at her. She scoffed. 

“Yeah,” she said. “I know. Doesn’t mean he’ll do anything about it.” 

“Why don’t you?” 

Hazel turned, hoisting herself up onto the counter. She took the offered pie tin from Nico’s hands to start wiping it down. 

At her silence, Nico looked up. She was moving the towel methodically, slowly. Like she was thinking too hard to even focus on what she was doing. 

  
“Hey!” 

Nico’s attention was drawn away from his cousin, to the figure in the doorway. Annabeth had slid to a stop in her socks, gripping the door-frame.

“Capture the flag. You guys are on my team.”

“Oh damn it!” Percy yelled, running up behind her. “Do you have to have both of them?” 

“You have  _ both  _ of the Graces, and Reyna!”

  
“Oh, as if you could ever get Thalia and Reyna on opposite teams-” 

“No, the concern is  _ Jason  _ and Reyna, the two of them-”

Hazel pushed herself off the counter, looking at Nico. She shot him a small smile.

“I’ll let you know if anything happens,” she said, quietly. He smiled, gently, giving her hand a squeeze where it sat on the counter between them. 

“What’s happening?” Will asked, poking his head around the corner behind Percy and looking at Nico. 

Nico smiled. 

“You’ll find out.” 

-

The eleven of them trudged out of Reyna's house and up to the park, bundled up in coats and looking ready for a fight. Jason carried a fabric bag full of cloth. 

“So, Will,” Percy said when they arrived, clapping his hands like a gym teacher. “It’s time for capture the flag.” 

Leo let out a cheer. 

“Okay,” Will said, nodding. “I’ve done capture the flag.”

  
“No, no,” Annabeth said, shaking her head at him with a look of pity on her face. “You really haven’t. Not like this.” 

“The rules are simple,” Percy said. “Get their flag back to on your side of the map.” 

“Uh huh,” Will said, nodding. “Is that it?” 

Percy grinned. “That’s it, dude.” 

Nico fought down a smile at the face of horror Will pulled. 

“Not even like, agreed upon civility?”

“Nope,” Nico said. “Last year Leo bit Frank hard enough that he had to go get stitches.” 

  
“Jesus,” Will said, looking horrified. 

“Alright, get over here,” Annabeth called, waving Nico and Will over to the table she stood before. She had a crudely drawn map spread out on the surface in front of her team. Around it sat Leo, Hazel and Frank. 

“Why are there six of us and five of them?” Will asked, peering around Annabeth to where Percy was pointing something out to Piper, Thalia, Reyna and Jason.

“Reyna counts for two people,” Leo said, “and I don’t think they’re counting you.” 

Nico snickered. 

“Okay, focus,” Annabeth said, pointing out different spots on the map as she spoke. “The stream is the halfway marker. They have the half with the swimming pool, so we get this side. I say we scale the playground and hide it there.” 

“Who’s defense?” Frank asked. 

“You, Leo, Nico,” Annabeth said. “Will, stick with Hazel. That good with everyone?” 

Faces around the table nodded. 

  
Annabeth grinned. 

“Let’s go.”

-

“Can you be quiet for one fucking second,” Nico whispered, cutting off Leo and Frank as they bickered. He wasn't even sure what about this time, but they were distracting him.

The three had tucked themselves into the top of the playground, with slides on either end and a few different ladders leading up to it. Nico and Leo had easily folded themselves into compact shapes. Frank was managing. 

On the roof, a purple t-shirt of Jason’s. There was no rule saying it had to be visible, but they had taken a calculated risk to keep it off their persons. A block of trees sat between their base and the stream. The other team would have to go around, where they could be seen, or try and make their way through the dense foliage.

Frank and Leo finally stopped talking to look up at Nico. 

“Jason is over there,” he said, nodding to the trees.

The three boys looked out of the small gaps in their fortress. Flashes of golden blonde hair were peeking through the sparse woods beside them. 

“I’ve got it,” Nico said, voice quiet. “Get armed.”

Leo grinned, holding up what looked like snowballs made of mud. There were sticks poking out of it from all angles. “All good, bro.”

Quietly, Nico slipped down out of the small cubby they had made a spot in. He snuck behind the slides, turning to try and spot Jason where he had seen him. 

He had lost him. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, spinning around to check the flag and coming face to face with a tall, blonde figure-

“ _C_ _ hrist!”  _

Will let out a shout, already splayed on the floor. 

Nico blinked. 

He hadn’t really expected to be able to floor the figure he had seen, and he most  _ definitely  _ hadn’t expected it to be Will. 

“Oh, my god,” he gasped, clasping his hand to his chest. “That was fucking terrifying.”

Will blinked, looking dazed and more than a little bit confused. 

“What the fuck are you doing down there?” Frank hissed, peering out of his station. He had one of Leo’s mud-balls in his hand, looking like he had been ready to throw. “Why is Will here?”

“Guys, guys-” Leo said.

“Are you okay?” Nico asked, looking down at Will. He was staring up at Nico with a vague expression on his face that Nico couldn't quite place. He had the horrible thought that he might just have hit his head. 

“Nico, get up here,” Frank said, waving his hand down at him. 

“Guys-” Leo called.

And then, very suddenly, Nico and Will were extremely, disgustingly wet. 

Frank and Leo began making a commotion. Nico shot his glance up to see Percy and Piper pulling themselves up onto the playground with astounding speed.  _ Fucking swimmers and their upper body strength _ . A couple of empty buckets pilfered from the swimming pool lay discarded on the wood chips next to Will. 

“You play dirty, Jackson, it’s the end of fucking November!” Leo yelled. His brown curls were stuck to his face. 

The water seemed to have jolted Will out of whatever daze he was in - that meant he probably wasn’t concussed, right? - and he pulled himself up to stand next to Nico. 

A shape landed heavily next to them, making Nico jump. Percy sprung up to his feet from where he had landed in a crouch, shooting off towards the center of the park. Piper shot out from the slide on the other side of the tower, tearing off in the other direction. 

“Oh, fuck!” Leo groaned, slamming one of his balls of mud on the ground.

“They’ve got to cross the stream, and then they’ve won,” Nico warned Will, shooting him a glance. 

“Who has it?” Will asked. 

“No clue,” Leo responded. 

“We’ll get Piper, you two go for Percy.” Frank called down. 

Will nodded, and then he was taking off at a sprint. As Leo and Frank chased Piper around the left of the trees, Will was following Percy through to the right. 

Nico skid to a halt. He looked between Percy and Piper. Neither had their coats on.

But their hands were empty.

He spun on his heel. At the top of the tower: a slightly faded purple shirt flapping gently in the wind. 

“Motherfuckers,” he said. 

He sprinted back towards the tower, climbing up it as fast as he could. Scrambling up to stand on the walls of it, he threw his hand up as far as he could until he made contact with the t-shirt acting as their team's flag.

Grabbing the shirt, he dropped down to the ground as quiet and as quickly as he could. As he ducked under the playground into the shadows, he caught a glint of silver jewelry in the bushes behind the playground. 

He ducked further, slowly sneaking lower as two sets of feet began to climb the tower.

_They went all the way to the other side of the park,_ he realised, swearing internally. 

“Fuck, did they actually grab it?” Thalia asked. 

“Come on,” Reyna said. “Let’s go help them.” 

Nico stayed crouched, his back tucked into a dark corner away from his two opponents. He gripped the flag in his hands. This play had Jason and Reyna strategy written all over it - they should have expected it.

He heard their footsteps crunch against the woodchips as they started moving in the direction Percy and Will had ran off. 

Cautiously, Nico eased himself up and started in the other direction. If he could keep it out of their hands, he could buy Annabeth and Hazel time - 

“di Angelo, you little snake!” Thalia yelled. 

_ Fuck,  _ Nico thought, breaking into a run towards the pond. He sprinted past Leo and Frank, the latter of whom had grabbed Piper in a bear hug and seemed pretty set on keeping her there.    
  


“Nico, that’s our flag!” he called. 

“I know, you fucker, help me keep it on our side!”

He turned around the edge of the woods and into the clearing they had begun in. The stream bisected the field they stood in, with a bridge in the middle. 

Percy cleared the edge of the trees just before Will on the other side, sprinting directly towards the bridge. Cat ching sight of Nico holding the flag, he faltered, and as he stumbled, Will went careening into his back, throwing the two of them on the floor like a football tackle. 

And then, a beacon of light, across the stream: Annabeth. 

With a clear shot towards the bridge, and Jason Grace hot on her heels. 

He shot a glance behind him. Leo had leapt onto Reyna's back, but Thalia - 

“Nico, give me that-!” Thalia yelled, running up behind him and making a mad grab for the flag in his hands.

He collapsed onto the ground, curling into a ball and dropping to the floor _._ Thalia fell to the ground with him and a loud “ _oof!”_. He tucked into himself, his back over the shirt - and Thalia’s hand.

“Nico!” a voice yelled. 

And then a cheer, ringing out from around the field. Nico glanced up from his spot on the floor to see Annabeth leaping into the air, victoriously waving a yellow shirt in her hands. He could hear Percy groan, shouting a curse.

Thalia shook herself free, ruffling his hair and laughing as he went to smack her hand. 

He rolled out onto his back, panting as he lay against the cold ground. He was still damp from whatever the hell Percy and Piper had thrown on him. 

A worried face loomed over him. 

“Nico, are you okay?” Will asked, face full of concern. 

Nico blinked up at Will. A smile broke out over his face, and he pushed himself up to a sitting position. 

“A little bit damp, ” he said, “but pretty fucking satisfied with that.”

Will smiled, looking slightly shaken. Nico’s smile wavered. 

“You didn’t hit your head, did you?” he asked. He shoved himself up to a standing position “I know they can be a bit, uh, intense-”

“No,” Will said, brightening up again. “I feel great.”

Nico nodded. “Good,” he said, glancing up and down his roommate’s frame as if to double check he was in one piece. 

“So, what other Thanksgiving Wednesday traditions am I missing out on?”

-

The two of them got home late, after Thalia and Percy made it a point to educate Will on what he was missing with his silly Thursday Thanksgiving . Nico could still hear their discordant attempt at  ‘singing’, as they had called it. 

“Jason and I got to chatting while you did the dishes,” Will noted. 

Nico had been on his way to his bedroom to call it a night, but stopped to look back at his roommate. He was tidying up their living room, collecting cups and plates they had left out in their week off classes.

“What’d he say?” he asked, wary. All his friends had big mouths and bad filters. Ja son wasn’t exempt. 

“You know,” Will said, shrugging. “Asked how I was finding the house. Told me how to jiggle my desk drawer when it gets stuck. That kind of thing.”

Nico nodded. That sounded far too innocent to be coming from Jason Grace.

“He also, ah,” Will paused, glancing Nico’s way.  _ Here we go,  _ Nico thought. 

“He was asking about you, I guess,” he said. Nico rose an eyebrow. “He sounded concerned.” 

“About me?” Nico asked. He wasn’t surprised Jason would ask after him, but when he asked Jason to talk to Will, this wasn’t what he meant. 

“Yeah. He said you had a habit of hiding when you weren’t doing so good,” Will said.

Nico blinked, surprised. “Oh.”

“I mean - I kind of noticed it, but didn’t know if you were just shy. I just thought I’d check up and see if you needed to talk about anything.” 

Nico looked away from Will. This was far too friendly for him, and, if he was honest, the exact opposite of the result he wanted to come from Jason talking to Will. But- 

He couldn’t deny that it felt a little bit  nice to be worried about. Will sounded genuinely concerned. 

“Uh,” he said, trying to draw hims elf back at the conversation at hand but still struggling to find the words.  Glancing up, he saw Will smile and look down at the dishes in his arms. 

  
“I’m gonna put this away. You don’t need to share, if you don’t want. Just thought I’d offer.”

“Thanks,” Nico muttered, unsure if Will heard. 

“Hey, Nico?” 

He glanced up. Will had popped his head around the corner. 

“I can leave you alone more often if you want too. Just gotta ask,” he said. Nico nodded, slowly. 

“Thanks, Will.”

“No problem, man.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love adding in unnecessarily large casts of characters! 
> 
> Feel free to yell with me about SolAngelo in the comments or on Tumblr @americanbeautiies


	3. Early December

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay the angst can begin (◕‿◕)
> 
> Content warnings also are going to start coming into play just to be on the safe side!
> 
> For this chapter that includes: 
> 
> Non-graphic injuries  
> Anxiety/panic attack symptoms   
> Reference to past character death (canon typical dead sister)

Nico kicked off his boots as the front door slammed behind him.  The bus had taken nothing short of an hour, already burdened with pre-Holiday delays on top of the shit-storm that was blizzard season. He huffed, wrestling off his scarf. 

“Hey, Nico,” Will called, popping his head around the corner of the front hall. “I’m making spaghetti. Do you want some if I promise not to get experimental this time?”

He made a noncommittal noise, shucking off another few layers of clothing and dropping them unceremoniously in a heap at the floor. He'd fucking fix it later.

Will hummed as if in agreement, chattering away about the state of the weather and, “better hope we don’t get a power cut - that happened last year to my Mom, boy that wasn’t fun -”

_ Shower first,  _ he thought.  _ I’ll warm my  _ _ brittle aching old man bones and then I can stop being a dick to him.  _

He pattered to the bathroom to the background noise of Will’s gentle humming.  _ God, a hot shower sounds so good -  _

Nico closed his eyes. 

With the water running, he could tune out any background noise and pretend he wasn’t here. He could thaw himself out, take just long enough to enjoy some solitude and settle back into his own head. He could - 

“ _ Fuck!” _

He opened his eyes up to the ceiling, blinking away spots in his vision as he stared up into the stream of water and- 

Why was he on the floor?

He shifted to the side and let out a shout - or perhaps better described as a scream - as the sharpest pain he’d ever felt shot down his left arm to his wrist. Beside him lay a toppled bottle of shampoo, slowly leaking under his back and down the drain.

There was a bang on the door.

“Nico?” Will called, knocking again. “You okay?”

He looked down to his shoulder. His vision swam. 

“I’m going to come in-”

“Jesus, give me a second!” Nico yelled, biting back a curse and reaching up with his right hand to slam off the water. Tears sprung to his eyes. He reached as far as he could, tugging his towel down from its holder and bringing a hair brush with a loud clunk.

“Nico?”

“ _ Fine, _ ” he said, gritting his teeth. Fuck, everything hurt. 

And then Will was there. 

He blinked, and Nico could only imagine what chaotic sight he was trying to take in. Assorted hair care products in puddles on the floor, and Nico, naked and wet and nursing a very obviously broken arm. 

Will  made his way over, stepping over puddles until he was able to crouch down in front of his roommate. 

“I mean, it doesn’t look that bad,” he said. 

“Really?” Nico replied, “because it feels pretty  _ fucking  _ bad, Solace.”

Will rolled his eyes as he pushed himself up to a standing position. “I’ll get you painkillers while I grab you some clothes,”

“Is getting me dressed the biggest priority right now?” 

“Dude,” Will said, looking back down at him incredulously. “I can’t set that with the shitty supplies we have in the kitchen. I’m bringing you to the ER.”

Nico’s stomach turned sour. 

_ Hospitals.  _

He scrunched his eyes closed, trying to push back against the anxiety that began spiraling in his stomach. 

His head was filled with beeping, a shrill tone that sped up with his beating heart. He could hear a small voice, shouting - 

_ “Bee? Bee!” _

Will reappeared, lowering himself back down to the floor in front of Nico. A pile of offensively bright orange clothes rest in his lap.    
  


“I might need to break the ‘no touching’ rule,” he said, gently reaching out to Nico. Slowly, as if he could move himself back to an acceptable distance at the slightest noise.

His hand hovered over Nico’s right arm, where it was clutching his hurt left. 

Nico’s grip on his elbow tensed, reflexively.

“Hey,” Will said, softly. “It’s not going to hurt. Just might be a bit warmer if you get some clothes on.” 

Nico huffed out a laugh, out of pain and awkwardness more than anything else. 

When Nico had first met Will, he had had a healthy appreciation of his aesthetic features. He still could sit and appreciate that Will had a nice face, objectively, and that his hair looked soft, objectively, and that was fine. Objectively. He had accepted the fact he wasn’t straight, and he could look at a guy and not feel any gay feelings. It was fine. 

But he still didn’t want someone this attractive trying to clothe him. 

He hated the gleeful voice in his brain that sounded disgustingly like Jason reminding him that it was this, or remain naked in the presence of his tall, buff, golden blonde roommate. 

He closed his eyes and nodded, gritting his teeth as he focused his energy on not saying something stupidly rude, like the truth about how horrifically ugly the shirt Will had chosen was.

His jaw tensed as he felt the first brush of warm, smooth hands on his shoulders, gently coaxing him to lean forward.

He could feel Will focusing. 

He had gone completely silent as he eased the shirt over Nico’s still damp head, gently prompting his unhurt arm up and through the sleeve while supporting his injured arm, and then back down to adjust the rest of his shirt. 

“Orange isn’t really my colour,” Nico said, looking down his chest. The shirt had a horse on it with faded black letters, and Nico’s vision swam when he tried to read them. Will let out a bark of laughter. 

“The shorts are black - hopefully that suits you a bit better?”   
  


Nico let Will help him up to a standing position, and i t only took him a moment to realise just how distinct their height difference was. The shirt extended far down his thighs, drooping excessively around his chest in the areas that Will was  _ significantly  _ less skinny. 

“Let me grab my keys,” Will said, after cautiously leading Nico back into the living room and handing him a pair of black shorts. Nico could feel his cheeks flushing as he lent against the edge of the sofa to wrangle them on with one hand. 

Eventually, Will peered around the corner, looking like he had been waiting patiently for Nico to finish struggling and make himself presentable. He shuffled forward, holding Nico's big coat outstretched.

“My first day off and I’m already back at the hospital,” Will said as he opened the front door. Nico’s stomach turned to acid. 

“I can go alone, don’t worry, you should-”   
  


“Jesus, Nico,” Will said. He laughed, but it didn’t meet his eyes - it looked more like astonishment. “I’m not making you go to the ER alone. It’s the middle of winter and you have a broken arm! _ ” _

Nico swallowed. Right. 

“I hope you remembered to turn off the stove.”

-

After Will ducked his head back into their kitchen to check everything really was off, they headed out. It wasn’t a long drive to the hospital, but a drive was needed nonetheless in the weather they had. The snow hadn’t eased up, still swirling down in a flurry of white against the dark city streets. 

They were quiet on the drive there: Will, at the wheel with his driving glasses on; and Nico in the passenger seat, bundled up in his over-sized black jacket.  They were quiet when they arrived, and they were quiet all the way through making their way to the waiting room. 

Nico could feel his stomach doing flips throughout the journey, and for once the quiet wasn't helping settle his nerves.

He sat down, with Will giving him a  _ look  _ that just dared him to try and leave the spot he had been left in. And then he was gone, heading up to the desk and kindly asking the man behind it for a registration form. 

Nico was staring at the corner of the room. 

There was a small table set up over a colourful rug, covered with what appeared to be colouring sheets and a box of crayons. In the corner was a stand with children’s books. A young boy sat next to it, flipping through something absentmindedly. 

Had he been hurt? Or was he waiting for someone else? 

_ “Oh, dear, are you waiting to be seen?”  _

_ “...” _

_ “His sister…” _

“Hey,” a voice said, drawing Nico out of his head. He looked up, blinking at Will. He looked out of place, in his blue Archery club sweater and ratty jeans. His arms were laden with bags of chips stacked on a thin board. 

You couldn’t have guessed that he was someone who spent half his time in this very building. He looked like he should be playing video games, or drinking beer with his friends. 

_ He shouldn’t be here.  _

“I got snacks, and a clipboard. Which do you want first?”

Before he could really answer, Will was sitting down and handing him a newly opened bag of chips. Then he clicked open a pen, and began to ask him questions. 

And he just didn’t stop. 

“Title?”

“Mister?”

  
“Are you asking?”

“Fine. Mister.”

“First name?”

“Nico.”

“Middle name?”

“Don’t have one.”

“Surname?”

“di Angelo. Don’t capitalise the ‘D’”

“Okay, Mr. Nico Don’t Have One Small D Angelo,” Will said, and Nico laughed. 

And on, and on, and on. 

“Birth place?” 

  
“Venice.”

“Country?”

“Italy, you fucking-”

“Member of the military?”

“Ew, no.”

“Mother tongue?” 

“Italian, but like, fuck off with the asking, y’know? I’ve been speaking English for 21 goddamn years.” 

He flicked his hand as he spoke, accidentally tossing a potato chip with it. Will laughed, a spectacularly bright sound.

“Mr. di Angelo?” a voice called, drawing his attention. Nico looked up. A short woman stood in the doors leading out of the waiting room. He straightened up, shooting a glance at Will. 

“I’ll be here when you’re out,” he said, handing him the clipboard. 

Nico nodded, once, then stood up to make his way towards the woman. He shot a look back at Will, who sent a radiant smile back in return. With a deep breath, Nico walked on.

“So, Mr. di Angelo,” the doctor said. “Looking forward to summer camp?” 

Nico blinked. “What?”

She nodded down at the shirt he wore, and he faintly noticed the words “Camp Counselor”.  _ Huh.  _

“My friend lent me his shirt,” he stammered. 

“Well, guess you’ll be enjoying the snow a bit longer then,” she said with a smile. “But you might want to invest in something warmer than those shorts.”

He felt flushed. Hell, he had been flushed ever since he put clothes on. His face felt warm enough even with just the shorts. 

She began to talk him through what she’d be doing, gently helping him take off his coat so she could coax his left arm out of hi s grip. 

He winced as pain tore through him at occasional steps, until she eventually stopped moving around. 

“Alright, you’re all cast up,” she said, eventually. 

Nico glanced at his arm. _Huh._ He had been tuning out what was happening so strongly that he hadn't even noticed she had finished.

It wasn’t a small cast, but his arm looked to be the shape it was supposed to be. That was progress. 

The doctor was continuing to tell him how to take care of his arm, but with a final reminder to be cautious as he showered with it on, she showed him in the direction of the waiting room. 

He pushed the door open, and his stomach did a strange flip at the scene in front of him.

  
Will was leaning up against the front counter. The man that had been behind the counter before Nico had gone in had been replaced with a short girl, with dark hair and bright green eyes behind glasses. She looked like she was near tears at something Will had said, as he beamed down at her. 

“Nico!” Will called, waving at him from across the room. Nico grumbled, looking at his feet, before making his way over. He nodded, once, at the girl behind the desk. Her name tag read, “ _ Lou Ellen, Junior Nurse”.  _

“I’ll call you,” Will said to the girl, and Nico fought the urge to roll his eyes. But before he could debate it, Will was waving at her and starting for the door. 

-

A few lights were still lit in their apartment as they returned, left on at Will’s insistence that they get moving earlier that night. 

The clock above their oven read _2_ _ :27.  _ Nico groaned.  _ Fuck  _ mandatory attendance, he was sleeping in.

“I’m going to bed,” he groaned. Will hummed in agreement, wandering into the kitchen to start tidying up what had been the beginnings of his dinner. 

Nico paused, looking at his back. The kitchen wasn’t brightly lit, but Nico could still see a faint glow on Will’s arms as he moved around tidying. 

“Hey,” Nico called. Will looked up. The light caught on his face. He looked… soft. Where he was usually energetic, bright, he looked calmer and more subdued. But no less soft. 

“Thanks. For everything today,” Nico said. Will smiled, his face glowing once again. 

“Of course,” he said. “Sleep well, Nico.” 

Nico nodded. 

“You too.”

-

_ A light flashed.  _

_ “Bee?”  _

_ “Oh, dear, are you waiting to be seen?”  _

_ “...” _

_ “His sister…” _

_ He could hear beeping, and so much  _ noise, _pressing at him from all sides until_ _ it seemed like it would never stop.  _

_ “Nico, come here.”  _

_ “Bee? Bee!” _

_ Arms were on him, lifting him, dragging him, back, and down, down, down -  _

  
  


Nico’s eyes shot open. His room was silent, save for the hum of the small space heater in the corner of his room. 

He took a deep breath.

_ “Nico, come here!” _

He pushed himself up to sit, reaching his arm out for his phone and hissing when his cast hit against the nightstand to his left. The small light next to him was still on. 

"Fuck," he swore, pressing his right hand to his eye.

He stumbled to the door, still out of sorts, and padded out into the living room.

_ Water,  _ he thought. He could get some water, and calm down. There was no light coming through their windows. The clock in their kitchen blinked at him. _3_ _ :51.  _

“Hey-” 

He jumped, dropping his mug with a clatter against the counter. It didn’t break, but he cursed as water began spilling over the side onto the floor.

“Jesus,  _ fuck-” _

“Sorry! Sorry, sorry-”

Will rushed over, smiling sheepishly as he moved to clean up the water. Nico swallowed. Will was still in his Archery club sweater, but had traded his jeans for a pair of fluffy pyjama pants and socks. 

The soft, pensive man that had been in the kitchen when they first returned was gone. He looked like a boy again. Tired, kind. 

Nico turned to look back at the flashing clock. _3_ _ :55. _

“Can’t sleep with the cast on?” 

Nico shrugged.  _ If only the cast was his biggest issue.  _

“Something like that,” he mumbled. 

“I had a cast on my leg when I was 15,” he said. “Worst summer of my life.”

Nico could feel Will’s eyes on him. He stayed silent. 

_ “Bee? Bee! Bee-!” _

He heard Will make a noise. When he blinked, he was surprised to feel his eyes stinging. Tears were collecting at the corner of his eyes.

“God, sorry,” he said. His throat was tight. How long had it been since he cried? Pathetic. 

“Hey,” Will said, his voice soft. Nico looked up at him. He looked horribly conflicted. 

Nico’s confusion must have shown, because Will laughed. “Sorry, I just - my first instinct is always to hug people when they cry.” 

  
A smile tugged at Nico’s mouth at that. “Figures,” he murmured. 

“Let’s go sit down,” Will suggested, softly. He had refilled Nico’s mug, and held it out to him. 

Nico curled up into a tight, compact shape the moment he sat down on the sofa, on the opposite end from his roommate. Will seemed fine with it; like he didn’t expect anything else from him. Like there were no expectations at all, except for Nico to do what made him most comfortable. 

It was quiet. He could hear his heater running in his bedroom.

His head still rang with the monotonous beeping of hospitals. 

Will was being too unusually quiet. 

“How did you break your leg?” Nico asked, when he couldn’t bear the silence any longer. 

“First day of summer camp,” Will said. “I was too keen to jump on the swing ropes, and broke it.” 

“Where was your camp?” Nico asked. He had never been one for it - not that his Dad was exactly keen on letting him go. 

“Staten Island. I still go,” he said, nodding at Nico’s chest. 

Confused, he looked down, and his mouth dropped in horror and embarrassment.

He was still wearing Will’s shirt. 

_ Fuck, should he take it off? No, you  _ idiot _ , that would be even weirder -  _

He settled on: “I’ll wash it before I give it back?” 

  
Will laughed and waved his hand, which could have meant absolutely anything. 

“I’m actually a counselor with the other nurse you met at the reception desk earlier,” he said.

_Ah, Lou Ellen,_ he thought. Not that he had remembered her name in case she came up again. That would be fucking sad. 

“Who’s better at it?” he asked instead, and watched Will think very hard. 

“I mean, probably Lou Ellen,” he said. “I’m not really one for arts or crafts. Or sports. Or cooking-”

Nico smiled. The thought of Will trying to wrangle kids who had glue and glitter was delightful. 

“We actually tried to date each other once,” Will said with a laugh, and instantly, Nico felt his eyes start to roll. 

“Didn’t go to plan?” he asked, casually,  _ so casually.  _

“I mean, no, I don’t think she planned on realising she was gay,” he said with a laugh. 

Nico’s gut soured. Will could just laugh like it was the most casual thing in the world to talk to people who didn’t know her about her sexuality? As if anything could fill Nico with more anxiety than that? 

“She brought me to my first pride though after I came out though,” he added. 

Nico went very carefully still, glancing down the sofa at Will with the practiced casualness he had perfected over the years. He didn’t look like he had said anything of note, but Nico’s head was swimming. 

There was  _ too much  _ going on right now, and definitely too much for four in the fucking morning. 

“I’ve never been,” he said, quietly,  _ casually, _ trying to grip onto something other than _'Will is gay? Will is gay! He’s GAY!'_

“I’ll bring you next summer,” Will replied.  Nico doubted that that would be a good idea. He would stick out like a sore thumb. Pride wasn’t for him. 

“Maybe,” he said. If Will noticed his hesitation, he didn’t comment. 

“I might head back to bed,” Nico muttered. Will nodded. 

  
“Sure,” he said. “Let me know if you need anything, yeah? I’d be a shitty nurse if I can’t even help out the guy I live with.”

When Nico lay back down in bed, he lasted a few minutes before rolling onto his side to grab his phone. He blinked at the bright screen as he turned it on. It was well past four am at this point. He sighed.

His phone made a soft  _ ding!  _

from: Hazel (4:28)

_ Can you remind me why I decided to do Chemistry?  _

from: Nico (4:28)

_ i told you you were a dumbass when you picked it and i’ll say it again now _

from: Nico (4:28)

_ you’re a dumbass  _

from: Hazel (4:30)

:( 

from: Hazel (4:30)

_ Fuck you _

from: Hazel (4:30)

_ Can you at least distract me with your nerdiness  _

from: Nico (4:33)

_ been too busy mending a broken arm to be a nerd, soz _

He jolted as his phone began to buzz with an incoming call.  _ Fuck, she was quick.  _

“Nico di Angelo, are you trying to pull a joke on me right now?” Hazel said. Nico rolled over, tucking his phone between his ear and the pillow with a sad smile. 

“Nope, had a trip to the ER and everything.” 

Hazel was quiet for a moment. Then, softly, “was it okay?” 

Nico squirmed a bit in discomfort.

  
“Y’know. Same as always,” he said. “Will helped though.”

“Did you tell him about it?” 

  
He sighed. “No, but I think he figured that I was uncomfortable, or anxious, or something. Probably thought it was just nerves.” 

Hazel hummed in response. He could vaguely hear her tapping away at her computer keys. She swore gently. 

  
“Sorry, my spreadsheet started turning some weird colours.” Nico laughed. “For real though, how’s your arm? What happened?”

“I slipped in the shower, and fractured the bone in my forearm. Fucking hurts,” he said. Hazel made a noise of assent. 

“Hopefully Will got you dressed before bringing you to the ER,” she said. Nico groaned, looking down at his shirt again. 

“What?” Hazel asked. It sounded like she moved away from the phone again, and he heard her gently cursing at her spreadsheet. 

“I’m still wearing his fucking shirt,” he murmured. Through the phone, he heard Hazel snicker. 

“Aw,  _ romantic,”  _ she teased. Nico rolled his eyes. 

“As if,” he said. His stomach gave a small flip at the thought. He ignored it. “It’s bright orange. I’d stay single forever if it involved wearing orange.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know that canonically Will sucks shit at Archery but consider: it's my fanfic. 
> 
> Yell with me about SolAngelo on tumblr @ americanbeautiies


	4. Late December (One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More angst! Soft yearning! Yes!
> 
> Content warning:  
> Alcohol use

“Home for the holidays, Solace?” Nico asked from his spot on the kitchen counter. 

Will ignored him, focused fully on the steaming, bubbling pot on the stove before him. 

“That’s burning, Will,” he said, leaning over the pot. It looked… fine. Nico wasn’t sure what it was, but it probably wouldn’t make him sick.

It was definitely burning though. 

“Oh, fuck,” Will moaned, turning off the stove. “This sucks.”

Nico snickered. 

“Family always does the cooking?

Will shrugged. “I’ve got a big family. Someone always knew what they were doing, so I didn’t have to learn.”

Nico slid down off the counter, pulling the pot towards him with his good hand. 

“It’s salvageable. Sit,” he said, shooing Will away as he moved to try and sort out their dinner. 

Will hummed, taking Nico’s place on the counter next to the stove. 

“When are we going to decorate?” he asked, eyes darting around the kitchen. 

“What?” 

“Decorate,” he said. “We’ve already missed the prime time.”

“Aren’t you leaving tomorrow?”

“Not if I end up having to leave it this dreary.”

“We never usually decorate,” Nico said, cautiously. “We don’t have many decorations.” 

Will gasped. When Nico glanced at him, he had his hand on his chest as if he was a scandalised Victorian woman. 

“Okay, come on,” he said, jumping off the counter and turning the stove off again. “It’s still early enough.”

“Will, what the fuck-”

“Oh, that can’t be saved and you know it. Come on. We’re going shopping.”

“ _ You  _ were the one going on about regular healthy meals -”

  
  


“We’ll eat out. My treat,” he added, with a wink. Nico rolled his eyes.

“Alright, Solace. You’re the boss.”

-

“I can’t believe you don’t already have a Christmas tree.” 

Will had control of the shopping basket, but 'control' was a very loosely used term. It didn’t mean much. It seemed like he was putting anything and everything in it. 

He shrugged. 

“My old roommate insisted on keeping it when I left. It wasn’t worth the hassle.”

Nico blinked in surprise. Will hardly ever mentioned his previous living situation, and Nico had never asked. 

“He was a dick,” Will added with a grumble, and Nico laughed. 

“Sounds like you’re itching for a rant,” Nico said. Will rolled his eyes. 

“God, he was just - not very nice,” he said. His brows were furrowed as he frowned. “Let’s get some tinsel.”

Nico could tell when people were trying to deflect attention, because he was a champion at it. There was a story there, clearly, but he was happy to let it be if Will wasn’t going to share. 

“What colour?” he asked instead. 

-

“If you didn’t already have a broken arm, I’d insist on taking you skating,” Will said. 

Nico laughed. Their shopping sat gently on the ground between them, as they leaned against the rim of an open air ice rink that had been set up for the holiday season. 

Will had insisted on buying Nico hot chocolate, the same was he insisted on carrying most of the bags between them. 

“You say that like you’re certain I’d break my arm if we went skating,” he replied. 

Will turned to look at him. “You broke it because you slipped on shampoo.”

“Yeah, fine.”

Will laughed, a delightfully bright sound. Nico could see his ears red with the cold, and had the strangest urge to tell him to put on a hat. 

“Should we head?” Will asked, pushing himself up off the railing. Nico nodded, moving to pick up a bag before Will shooed him off. 

“At least let me carry  _ something,” _ Nico complained, rolling his eyes. 

Will huffed, gently handing him a bag stuffed full with tinsel, before leading the way out to the street.  __

They ambled through the stretch of open air stalls, stopping when something caught their eye.

“Oh,” Will said, voice soft. Nico blinked, looking up from the various displays to see-

Snow. 

They had made it out onto the main road, directly across from the park and not too far from Reyna’s home. 

“This isn’t the first snow, Solace,” Nico said, looking at him with an incredulous face. “There’s snow on the ground  _ right now.” _

“Hush, and let a Texan enjoy the novelty of snow,” he said, laughing lightly. 

Nico looked up at the sky. They had stopped at the side of the sidewalk, but holiday-shoppers still brushed by in a hurry.

It was beautiful. 

The sky was dark, cloudy, and the wind was biting at Nico’s cheeks, but he hardly felt it. It felt soft, and safe. 

Nico could feel Will’s eyes on him. 

A small voice yelled; “Dad, can we see the lights in the park?” Nico glanced down, watching a young girl pull a man towards the green space across from them. 

“Shortcut?” He muttered, looking at Will, who smiled. 

“It won’t be shorter,” he said, already moving to cross the road, and Nico laughed. “But I want to see the lights.”

It barely took a minute of walking into the park until the twinkling, glimmering lights began to peek out of the darkness. 

He could see curtains of glimmering, rainbow lights draping down from tree branches on either side of the path they walked. Ahead, the stream - the same one that Annabeth had sprinted across victoriously a month ago - curled it’s way into a larger pond at the side of the clearing. Small, floating lights bobbed in the gentle waters. 

Nico stared at the criss-crossing strings of lights hung up from the canopy of trees above their heads. They sent a cascading rain of golden light down onto the ground, glimmering against the swirling snow. 

In the wind, the strings shifted, and the light danced.

He could feel Will’s eyes on him.

“Nico,” he said, softly, a barely there whisper. Nico glanced up at him. 

“Hm?”

Will stayed silent. His breath made a small puff of steam. Nico watched him, waiting. He was stood close enough that he could tell how rosy red Will’s cheeks were, bitten with the cold, even that his lips were chapped. Nico could see him swallow, as if his mouth had gone dry. 

“Nothing,” he said, finally, blinking quickly like he had been distracted, and was trying to get his head back on.

Nico looked back up at the glittering lights. 

“They’re beautiful,” he said. 

“Yeah,” Will replied. “They are.” 

-

“Alright,” Will said, dumping his haul on their living room floor when they returned. “I’ll get some tunes on.”

“I’ve got some bells and shit,” Nico said, wandering into his bedroom. Will stood in the doorway watching as he dug out a box from under his bed. “Fucking, family heirlooms or whatever. Don’t have anyone else to take them.” 

Will graciously took the box from him when he returned to the hallway, pattering back out to the kitchen to start looking through them. 

“Aw, they all have names. This was for- hm. Do you know who Bianca is?” 

Nico froze, turning to look at Will. In his hands, he held a small knitted robin. 

In two steps, Nico strode up to him and grabbed it out of his hands, clutching it in his fist without any thought of how it might get crushed. 

Will stepped back in surprise, putting his hands up. 

“I- sorry,” he said, blinking at Nico. 

He bit his lip, willing himself to  _ not fucking cry - _

“Bianca,” he said, voice quiet. “is my sister.”

“Oh. I thought you were an only child-”

“She died.” 

He could feel Will watching him.

_ “Bee?”  _

_ “Oh, dear, are you waiting to be seen?”  _

_ “His sister…” _

_ “Nico, come here.” _

“I don’t want to talk about this,” he spat, tears stinging at the corner of his eyes.

“Okay,” Will said, softly. “We don’t have to.”

Nico felt a spiral of guilt dig into his stomach. 

“I’m sorry,” he started, but Will stopped him. 

“Nico,” he said, gentle. Always, always gentle. “You don’t need to apologise for having boundaries.”

He frowned. _That sounded like a lie._ And - 

“I miss her,” he whispered.

Will nodded, staying silent. Letting him speak. 

“She- when I was ten. I never knew my mom, my dad’s a fucking dick - I kind of only had her.”

“That sounds really hard,” he said softly. Nico laughed. 

“Yeah,” he said. “It is. I mean - I’ve got Hazel. Her dad and mine were estranged, but. Y’know. Same college now.”

Will moved to reach out his hand, before stopping himself and gently setting it back on the table.

Nico’s heart ached watching him. 

“Okay, fuck,” he said, huffing out a breath and dragging the back of his hand against his damp eyes. “I’m okay with you lightening this up, Will.”

“As someone training to be a medical professional, it feels irresponsible to suggest we now go and get a bit drunk,” he said. “But as your roommate and friend-”

Nico’s heart thumped.  _ Friend.  _

“I think it’s time to grab the eggnog.”

-

Will looked at him, a wide grin on his face, and giggled. 

He had poured Nico a large drink, encouraged him to have half, and then pronounced that it was time to “Christmas-ify the fuck out of this place.”

He had insisted on Christmas music - the extra cheesy, shitty kind - while he pranced around the room hanging up tinsel and setting up the tree. 

“No, you have to help,” he said, looking like he was about to drag Nico up bodily if he didn’t move. 

Nico had sighed, more to keep up the image that he hated Christmas than actual annoyance, and got to work setting up the bright lights Will had bought.

And now, here they were: sitting at either end of their sofa with bright, tinkling lights winding through their apartment. The tree was set up, poorly, but covered in decor. There was tinsel taped up above each and every door frame. 

Nico felt a smile tugging at his lips as he watched his roommate laugh about something in his own head, from his spot on the sofa.

The eggnog was  _ strong,  _ he’d give it to him. 

He rarely drank, finding it made him more uncomfortable than it was worth, but he didn’t feel that discomfort. Sitting on their sofa with his roommate, laughing about nothing and everything, he felt fine. 

He felt good. 

“How did your finals go?” Will asked. Nico huffed. 

“Well, they’re done,” he muttered. Will laughed. 

“Not long left now, though?”

“Yeah,” Nico said. He hadn’t been thinking about how soon his graduation would sneak up on him. Finish this year, then one after that. 

“What are you doing next?” Will asked, sounding genuinely intrigued. 

Nico shrugged, making a noise that he hoped was both non-committal and conveyed just how little he knew about what his life might look like in a year and a half. It seemed to work, if the thoughtful nod Will gave him was anything to go by.

“I think I might want to keep studying and go for a doctorate, but I doubt I could get into anything.”

Will sat up, looking at him with bright eyes. 

“Nico, that would be so great. You’d fit that so well-”

“I-” he began, blinking at Will’s excitement. He had never really talked about his plan to any of his friends, and had  _ definitely  _ not expected this level of enthusiasm. “I don’t know. I don’t think my grades are high enough-” 

“Nico,” Will said, voice firm. “You should definitely go for it. I’ve seen how into your books you get, you would do  _ so well.  _ Any college would be lucky to have you.” 

Nico could feel his face flushing with the determined attention Will was giving him. He ducked his head. 

“Are you going to try to go straight into a nursing position?” he asked instead, changing the topic. Will had asked him more than enough questions. 

“I never really considered anything else. I’ve always wanted to be a nurse,” he said with a nod. "But I've got a few years yet."

Nico nodded at him. His passion was evident. He thought back to their trip to the ER; how kind and patient Will had been with him. How easily he had picked up on Nico’s discomfort and, without even understanding why, started to fix it. 

The conversation lulled, leaving the room quiet, save for the hum of heaters and the gentle holiday music Will had put on earlier that evening.

“Nico,” Will said, breaking the silence and gently swirling the drink in his cup. “I like you. I’m glad we live together.”

Nico could feel his cheeks were flushed with the alcohol. 

“You called me your friend earlier,” he murmured. Will laughed. 

“Fuck yeah, you’re my friend,” he said. “Do you not think so?”

“Don’t usually have many friends.” 

Will frowned. “Boo, it’s Christmas.” 

Nico laughed. “Okay, fine, fuck, it’s Christmas. I’ll stop being prickly.” 

“Good, because I have a surprise, and you can't get mad.”

Nico groaned. 

“Will, why-”

Before he could finish his line of thought, a small parcel was shoved in front of him. He blinked down at the shiny green paper. A paper tag was tied to a ribbon on it, with his name scrawled in swirly handwriting. 

“Will-”

“Oh, just open it-”

With a huff, Nico did, tearing into the paper and pulling open the plain box before him.

It was a fluffy black scarf, with a dark vine pattern snaking up it. Nico blinked at it. 

“Your other one was looking a bit - well, tattered,”

“Because you keep stepping on it,” Nico muttered. Will laughed. 

“Well, whatever the reason. I hope you like it.” 

Nico looked up at him, frowning. 

“I didn't get you a gift,” he said. Will smiled and shrugged. 

“That’s okay,” he said. “That isn’t why I got it for you.”

“Why did you?” Nico pressed. Will’s eyes crinkled. 

“I just wanted to.”

Nico swallowed. He could tell he was being rude, but couldn’t get the thoughts in his head straight. 

_ Fucking eggnog - _

“Thank you,” he said. “I do like it. A lot.” 

Will’s smile widened. 

“Good. Merry Christmas, Nico.”

-

He woke up the next morning to a note from Will taped to the fridge.

_ I had to head off, but I left (store bought) cookies in the fridge. Merry Christmas! Love - Will _

Nico smiled. 

A knock at his door drew his attention.

Hazel stood outside, bundled up in her winter coat and scarves, with snow slowly melting in her hair. Her suitcase sat next to her, with a bag full of what Nico assumed were snacks and presents resting atop it.

“Merry Christmas!” she cried, opening her arms to a hug. 

“Merry Christmas, Hazel,” he said, letting her wrap her arms around him as he stepped back to let her into the apartment. 

It had been decided that Hazel would be staying the week, staying in Will’s room until he returned on the 30th.  He had been more than happy to oblige her, almost as if he was inviting her to stay with him, and not merely use his room while he’d be half way across the country.

“Oh wow, you guys decorated!” she said, looking around the room with excitement. Nico _had_ found the bells in the box of heirlooms, and strung them up so they wound around the tinsel. Absentmindedly, Hazel hit one with her finger, smiling at the chime. 

“I haven’t had breakfast yet,” Nico said, wandering back into his kitchen to retrieve his coffee. Hazel followed. “Do you want to go out? Or dig through whatever Will left?”

He turned to find her staring at the front of his refrigerator, ignoring him. 

“Aw, this is so cute,” she cooed, tapping her nails against the note Will left. “‘Love Will’? He’s too precious.” 

Nico rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure. See if the cookies are any good first.”

-

Christmas morning came slowly, quietly, and without a fuss. 

Nico glanced at his phone screen, still curled in his bed and swiping through well wishes from Reyna, selfies from Jason and Thalia, a photo of Frank's grandma's dog -

He blinked, as messages started popping up from an unknown number, before rolling his eyes as the sender’s identity became clear.

from: unknown (11:24)

Happy Christmas Nico!!!! 

from: unknown (11:25)

Jason gave me your number

from: unknown (11:25)

It’s Will btw

He smiled to himself, ready to deny it to Hazel if at all necessary. 

from: Nico (11:28)

Merry Christmas Will

from: Nico (11:33)

<3

He crawled out of bed, pulling on the first t-shirt he could find in his bedroom before wandering out into the kitchen with his blanket over his shoulders.

He could feel Hazel’s eyes on him as he began pulling together the first batch of coffee of the morning. Hazel had been sure to get the staples for a horrifyingly elaborate brunch, which Nico always appreciated, but he could only start with so much. 

“ _ What? _ ” he snapped, spinning to look at his cousin. She snickered. 

“I like your shirt,” she said, glancing from his eyes to his chest. 

“My -”

He groaned.

“You really did just steal his shirt, didn’t you?” she said with a laugh, walking up to him and making a grab at the side of his blanket cape to reveal the rest of it. How had he not noticed he picked up a bright fucking orange t-shirt? He hardly had that many-

“Stop that,” he muttered, swatting her hand and crossing his arms with a huff. “I just- I haven’t had a chance to wash it yet. That’s all.”

“Sure, sure,” she hummed, still snickering. 

“Let’s just go watch the damn movies,” he muttered, taking his coffee to the living room while pointedly ignoring her cries of protest. 

-

“My dad called yesterday,” Hazel muttered. 

It was late. Christmas day had come and gone. The last movie they had put on had run its course, leaving the room quiet aside from the hum of the heaters. 

Hazel was curled around her second mug of hot chocolate, dressed in her pyjamas and bundled in a blanket. 

Nico rose an eyebrow. 

“Really?” 

She nodded. “The same usual bullshit. ‘You good? Not dead? Cool, bye’. That kind of thing.”

Nico nodded. He was familiar with his Uncle’s style of communication, but didn’t get even half that from his own father. Still, he wasn’t bitter: every time Hazel mentioned her dad, Nico’s gut flared with annoyance on her behalf.

“How are you feeling about it?” he asked instead.

She shrugged. 

“At this point, I don’t really give a shit. If he wants to call, sure, but I’m not going to call him.” 

Nico hummed. 

“Well,” he said, “He doesn’t deserve your time.” 

Hazel snorted and nodded, before leaning her head against Nico. 

“But you do. I love you lots.”

He smiled. “Love you too, Hazel. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Nico,” she said with a soft, sleepy smile. 

By midnight, Hazel had fallen asleep, curled up against Nico’s shoulder while he scrolled through his phone. He roused her, gently, before gently helping her up to bring her, still stumbling, into Will’s room so she could finally sleep. 

He curled up under his own covers, cocooning himself in a bundle of blankets against the cold, and finally ready to drift off peacefully to sleep. 

He didn’t necessarily enjoy being yanked back to the waking world by his ringing phone.

“Will?” he asked as he brought his phone to his ear, blinking groggily. “What the fuck?”

“Oh, ah- sorry, I forgot the- sorry, Nico, I’ll-”

“Are you okay?” 

Will was quiet, as if Nico asking had shocked him silent. Nico blinked up at the dark ceiling, feeling similarly. 

“Yeah,” Will finally said, sounding hesitant. “I just- uh, wanted to check on you.”

Nico doubted that. 

Fucking hell, what would Hazel do in this situation? Or Jason? Or anyone  _ nice?  _

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” Nico said, near a whisper. “But if you want to, you can.”

He could hear Will inhale _. Had he realised Nico was repeating things Will had told him?_

“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me,” he said. “Just, ah. Think I got used to a certain level of quiet from you.”

“Is that an insult?”

“No! No, no-” Will said, floundering. Nico snorted. 

“I know what you meant,” he said, graciously deciding he’d spare Will the bullying. “Lot of family?” 

“ _ So much,”  _ Will said with a sigh. “Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but-”

He trailed off. Nico hummed. 

Vaguely, he could hear Will open his mouth, before closing it again. He did it again. 

Nico waited.

“Merry Christmas, Nico,” Will said, finally, quietly. Nico glanced at the time on his phone. 

“It’s past midnight,” he replied.

“Well, Happy Boxing Day.”

“Happy Boxing Day, Will,” Nico replied, laughing lightly. “Sleep well.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nico doesn't know he's loved yet and it PAINS ME even though I'm the one writing this GD fic 
> 
> Anyway it only goes up from here y'all! I'm also potentially also now thinking about a Will POV fic, based mostly on events from this chapter that would just be delightful from his view
> 
> Yell about SolAngelo with me on tumblr @ americanbeautiies


	5. Late December (Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings:  
> Recreational drug use

The final few days of December came and went, a blur of leftovers and films as they were year after year. 

On the morning of the 30th, Will returned, laden with bags filled to the brim with leftovers, cookies and gifts. 

“Most of these leftovers are for you,” he said when he first arrived, slumping forward to let bags slide off his shoulders. “Mom got worried.”

The day moved quietly from there. Hazel said goodbye, hugging both Will and Nico tightly before she left. Nico had spent most of his time off tucked into a book, and he hadn’t intended for that to change when his roommate returned.

But, he had been lulled into the false sense of security that came with a silent apartment. He had spent most of the Christmas period alone, excluding the few days Hazel had stayed over. 

He hadn’t expected to be so unsettled by Will’s return.

“Was everything okay here?” Will asked, glancing around the apartment as if he expected to find a new pet hamster lurking in the corner. 

“Fine,” Nico said, curled into a ball on the sofa tucked into his book. He had not gotten a hamster, but was thinking he’d trade Will for one if he didn’t sit down and stop fidgeting soon. 

“Cool, cool, cool-” 

“Dude,” Nico said, slamming his book down on his chest. “Seriously?”

Will shot his head up to look at him. He had been pacing around the room, like he had taken a curious glance for the non-existent hamster to full on searching. 

“What?”

“Can you sit still for five seconds?”

Will laughed sheepishly. He looked uncomfortable, finally stood still but still fidgeting incessantly with a string of beads tied around his neck. 

“Sorry. I forgot my medication before I left. Been off it a while.”

“Oh,” Nico said. He never had any idea what to say when people were open about things he had been told should be kept quiet.

“Nothing life threatening,” Will was quick to add. “Just ADHD.”

Nico blinked at that. Not even Hazel knew he had an ADHD diagnosis: it had never come up, and Nico was not one to offer information unprompted. “Me too.”

“Oh! Cool.” 

Nico nodded. He hadn’t ever thought of it as cool - it was just how he was. 

“Got plans for New Years?” Will asked, abruptly changing the conversation. Not like he was uncomfortable - but a switch that was probably still linked to their prior discussion.

“Jason’s invited some of us round. Are you coming?”

At Will’s silence, Nico looked up. His blue eyes stared back. He had, in the space of their conversation, sat himself down on the floor. 

“What?”

“To Jason’s. Hazel seemed to think that's what you were coming back for.”

“Oh,” he said, looking down at the ground.

“Did Jason not tell you?” Nico asked. If he was honest, the thought seemed absurd - his friends loved Will. Why would he  _ not  _ be invited? “You don’t have to come if you have plans.”

“Ah, no,” he said, blinking away the confusion on his face. He was still fidgeting with his necklace. “Most of my friends are still at home with their families.”

“Didn’t fancy staying with yours?” Nico asked. 

Will’s smile turned grim. “No, they’re not - well, they’re okay in small chunks, but overwhelming otherwise. And y’know, forgot all my meds...” he added the final bit with a hollow laugh. 

“Well,” Nico said, turning back to his book. He would dig out his headphones in a minute and let Will fidget it out. “Jason would love to see you.”

At his silence, he looked up. 

Will’s smile had grown.

-

“How’s it been?” Jason asked. He was leaning against the kitchen with a beer in his hands, watching Nico fiddle with the label on his bottle. He shrugged. It was a lot harder to peel off a bottle label one handed. 

They had arrived at 8pm, and it had been fine. Quiet, even, because Leo had yet to arrive and Thalia was still getting ready. 

It was currently 8:58pm, and Nico was just about ready to leave. 

It didn’t help that each person in the room had decided they just  _ had  _ to check if Nico’s arm was okay. Did it hurt? Did he need help? What happened? Could he write? Was it affecting his studies?

Yes. No. He fell in the shower. He wasn’t left handed. It was fine.

“In general?” Nico asked. 

“I suppose.”

In response, Nico gestured to his broken arm. Jason laughed. 

“Yeah, fair enough,” he said. “And Will? Glad you remembered to invite him, I thought you'd forget.”

Nico blinked.  "What?"

Jason looked up at him, confused. 

"I mean, he's here," Jason began, slowly. "So you invited him, right?"

"I thought you did," Nico said, suddenly feeling flushed. That explains why he had been so fucking confused- 

"No," Jason said with a laugh. "We all assumed you would, since you're the one that keeps bringing him along."

Nico sighed, ignoring his warm, flushed cheeks. 

“Well, I think he’s starting to get fed up of living with me.”

Jason frowned, looking puzzled. “For real? I could have sworn-” 

Nico shrugged. “There’s just something off. Has been since Thanksgiving. I can tell.”. 

“Have you brought it up to him?” 

“And say what, ‘I know you’re fed up of having an insomniac gremlin with anxiety for a roommate, if you want to leave go for it?’”

“Is that  _ really  _ why you think he’s fed up of living with you?” Jason asked, staring at Nico in what would pass for disappointment in anyone other than Jason Grace. On him, it just looked like he was confused. Nico stayed silent. “I managed you just fine.”

Nico huffed a laugh. He kept peeling at the label on his bottle one handed. His left fell uselessly beside him. 

Jason pushed himself up and walked back towards the living room. He stopped next to Nico. 

“Talk to him, man.” 

-

Nico did not talk to Will. 

He wasn’t avoiding him, exactly, but - well, he lived with him. Did he have to coddle him through every social event? 

And besides, he wasn’t  _ just  _ avoiding Will. He was hardly feeling a desire to get drunk and party through to the new year. He may have been avoiding the party as a whole.

He didn’t want to be a downer, but as it was, the night was making him tense. 

So he stuffed himself into a corner of the sofa like any self respecting anti-social party guest that couldn’t hide out anywhere else. 

“Hey, man!” Percy dropped down onto the bench beside Nico, seemingly having vaulted over the back of the sofa. Nico’s shoulders shot up to his ears. 

“It’s been a while,” Percy said, reaching forward to grab a beer off the table before them. Nico definitively did  _ not  _ watch the muscles of his back roll under his stupidly tight t-shirt.  _ Fucking swimmers and their fucking upper body strength and their fucking back muscles -  _

His stomach rolled. 

“Hey,” he said, quietly. Then louder, because he was  _ not  _ going to be shy around this man. “How’s Annabeth been?” 

Percy smiled; “She’s good. Applying for grad school at the minute.” 

“Not for you?” Nico asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew the answer already: He had been surprised to see Percy hadn’t already panicked and dropped out to become a swimming instructor for children full time. He was clever in many ways, but not necessarily one for studying. 

He laughed. “Uh, no. Four years is more than enough for me.” 

Nico nodded. As expected.

“Hey!” Percy said, nearly jostling Nico as he turned to him. “You’re still living with Will, right? Man, that guy is  _ built  _ for the swim team, I can’t believe he didn’t join -”

“I don’t think Nico cares about the swim team, hon,” a voice said. “Should we let him go get another drink?”

Annabeth perched against the edge of the sofa, draping her hands around Percy’s shoulders. Nico mouthed her a silent, ‘Thank you’ as he stood up, always finding it easier to show his gratitude to her than to Percy. She shot him a wink, and pointedly said nothing more as he slunk out of the room. 

-

There were only so many places he could hide at a party in an apartment that small, and Jason didn’t have any pets he could spend his time with. 

The balcony would do. At least it was quiet.

“Oh, hey Nico,” Leo said, sliding open the door. 

Nico sighed. 

Percy and Jason followed Leo onto the balcony, bundled up in sweaters against the chill of the night.

“Don’t your neighbours mind?” Percy asked, wrapped into himself as he eyed whatever Jason was holding. 

“Nah,” he said. “They’re chill.”

Nico watched as he pulled out a lighter from his pockets, and then -

Ah.

“If you’re going to interrupt my isolation, at least share your weed.”

Jason snickered. 

“Oh, you refuse to smoke when we live together but after Will moves in, you’re down for it?”

Leo let out a loud bark of laughter. 

“What a shitty doctor,” he said. Nico frowned.

“Fuck off.”

Leo rolled his eyes, motioning to Jason to hurry up and pass around the joint. 

“So, Nico,” Percy said, leaning against Jason. He paused to take a hit. “Will. Did you seriously judo flip him at Thanksgiving?”

Leo burst into laughter. “He totally did, thinking he was Jason-”

“Nico, you couldn’t judo flip me-”

“I  _ know _ -”

“Oh, wait, wait-” Leo started, jumping up and down. He smacked Percy's chest, making him cough a dry cloud of smoke. 

“Dude, don’t drop the weed-”

“That reminds me,” Leo continued, looking around the balcony like he was plotting something. “Apparently Piper saw Will on a  _ date. _ ”

“Ooh,” Percy hummed, eyes going wide as he turned to look at Leo. “When?” 

“Week before Christmas, I think, but get this: know who it was with?” 

Nico watched Percy shake his head, eyes wide with childlike curiosity. 

“ _ Connor Stoll _ .” 

Nico could feel Jason’s eyes on him. Maybe he was imagining it, because he felt like a hundred eyes were on him. 

Percy made a noise, like he was gasping, as Leo carried on saying how  _ it might have been Travis, they look so similar, but I always thought Travis was the straight one, and besides, he’s like, three years older- _

“Why does it matter who Will dates? Or if it’s a guy?” Nico snapped, cutting him off. Leo blinked. 

“No, no, man, ‘course it doesn’t, but-”

“But what?”

“Oh, shit,” Percy said, effectively cutting them off. Nico fumed.

Percy had his phone in his hand, and waved it around in their faces like they could see it. 11:58. “Time to head in.”

Poking his head through the door, he yelled, “Get the TV, Thalia. Thalia!” Percy whipped a pillow at her, where she sat laughing with her partner. 

“Give me the weed,” Nico muttered with a scowl, pausing to take a hit before trailing in. 

He huffed past Leo and Jason to find Hazel. God, this night was going from bad to worse, and the perpetual stress and anxiety was going to send him to an early grave. 

The countdown began.

“Happy New Year,” Hazel said when Nico moved next to her, her voice slow and lilting. Nico smiled at her, trying to let the flicker of stress dim as he talked to his cousin. 

“Happy New Year, Hazel,” he said. 

Midnight struck. 

As Leo began to pull party poppers, one after the other, a figure leaned over to Nico.

“Gotta make a wish,” Will said with a smooth grin, pushing a champagne flute into Nico’s hand and clinking them together. 

Nico looked up at him, vision starting to spin. Jason didn't fuck around with his weed.

He glanced around the room languidly. In a corner, Thalia had her head in Reyna’s lap, staring up at her partner with a grin on her face. Back by the sofa, Percy had his arms around Annabeth’s waist, dipping her back to press kisses onto her giggling face. 

Hazel stood next Piper, swaying back and forth as she gave a particularly rough rendition of Auld Lang Syne. He could see Frank watching the duo, a mix of concern and soft affection on his face as he watched Hazel drop her weight onto Piper. 

Nico looked up at Will again, focusing his eyes on the freckles on his face. His bright blue eyes gleamed, shining as they reflected the lights in the room. Imperceptibly, he was swaying back and forth; not as if he was drunk, but as if he was just so full of delight to be there with his roommate, that he couldn’t stand still. 

_ He’s too good for this,  _ Nico thought with clarity, looking his roommate in the eye.

“What’d you wish for?” he asked instead. 

“Ah,” Will said, having the gall to  _ wink.  _ “Can’t tell you, or else it won’t come true.” 

Nico let out a soft exhale.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Wouldn’t want that.”

He shot his eyes back around the room. Hazel had quietened down with the singing, laughing as she bobbed back and forth. Piper giggled as she held her up. Reyna reached up to press a kiss to the underside of Thalia’s chin. 

Percy had pressed a final, lingering kiss to Annabeth’s mouth.

A strange feeling mixed itself in his chest. A sort of- longing. Perhaps for what they had; perhaps for something to finally be different for him. 

But at the same time, he never wanted any of this to change.

He took a long, steady sip of the champagne Will had pushed into his hands.

It would have to do. 

-

By 2am, the energy of the room was winding down. Jason had begun tidying the bottles, soon joined by Reyna and Thalia - although the Graces seemed to be causing more chaos than they were cleaning.

Percy and Annabeth had taken pity on the hosts to take a stumbling Leo back to his apartment. Piper lay on the floor, moved gently into the recovery position by Will - _just in case!_

Nico sat backwards on a dining room chair, resting his arms over the back to watch Frank gently move Hazel into a more comfortable position resting on his shoulder. 

“How’s your arm?” Frank asked, quietly. Whether it was to keep from waking Hazel, or just how he was, Nico wasn’t sure. 

He shrugged his shoulders. No matter how aggravated being continually asked made him, he could never find himself being mad at Frank. 

"I’m ready for the cast to come off, but otherwise, it’s okay.” 

Frank hummed in acknowledgement, nodding. Beside him, Hazel shifted, drawing his attention to her. His eyes crinkled in a gentle smile. 

Nico watched, silently. He didn’t think Frank would take well to having his feelings brought up by his crush’s cousin, while she was asleep on him. But anyone could see how he felt towards her, even Hazel, and yet he stayed silent. 

“She wouldn’t stop being your friend if you told her,” Nico said, quietly. Frank blinked, looking up at Nico with a cloudy look in his eyes. The two watched each other, silently. 

“I know,” he finally replied. “I don’t think that’s what’s keeping me from doing it.” 

Nico waited for him to continue. 

“I just,” he said, looking like he was struggling for the right words. “She’s so kind. She’s funny, and cool and- I just don’t know if I’m ready to put myself out there to someone like that.” 

Nico nodded. He knew that feeling. 

“Hey,” a voice said, breaking the quiet contemplation Nico had been doing watching Hazel and Frank. 

Will stood next to him, holding his own jacket. He glanced from Nico to Frank, then to Hazel and back to his roommate. 

“You ready to head?”

Nico looked back at Hazel, where she quietly slept. Frank was watching her, but looked up as he felt Nico’s eyes on him.

“I can get her home,” Frank said, voice soft. “You go.”

Nico nodded. He stood, nudging the chair he had been in back to its place.

“If you want to talk it out with her, she would never say no,” he said, looking Frank in the eyes. He looked back, determined, and nodded. 

“Thanks, man,” he said. “Get home safe.”

Nico nodded once more, looking to Will. He stood, watching his feet as he kicked gently at the carpet. 

“I’ll grab my jacket,” Nico said. As he turned the corner to grab his coat, he was cut off by a stumbling figure. 

“Aw, you guys off? Boo,” Thalia said, slumping in front of him with far less grace than her name might suggest. Jason snickered from behind her, grabbing her shoulders to push her out of Nico’s way. He figured he was trying to be gentle with his sister, but it didn't really translate.

“I’ll see you round, man,” Jason said. 

“Make sure she’s on her side,” Will said, moving near silently up behind Nico. He caught Jason's. “Also, maybe sleep on your side too.” 

He laughed, wrapping his hand around his sister’s waist. “Don’t worry about us,  _ William _ , we are  _ so good, _ ”

“I’ll make sure they’ve got water before they go to bed,” Reyna said, walking up behind the Graces from the kitchen. She smiled at the two of them. 

Will gave her a grin in return, nodding at the trio. 

“Thank you all so much for your hospitality,” he said, nodding his head at Thalia, and then Jason. They broke into giggles.

“God, Nico, how the hell do you two live together?” Thalia crowed, leaning her weight against her brother. “He’s so nice!”

“See you later, Thalia,” he said with an eye roll. Shooting one more glance back at the trio to wave at Reyna, he turned to the door to leave. Will followed quietly behind him. 

It was a strange night by the time they made it onto the streets. Snow fell, silently, and the street was still. But behind the stillness, and muffled by the falling snow, was a mix of noise and celebration from streets over. 

The two began walking away from the noise, down residential streets that would take them through the city to their own apartment block.

Nico watched the snow fall, blanketing the city as a new year began to take hold. His mind wasn’t racing, as it often did. It was peaceful. 

“I’m really sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable,” Will said, breaking the silence. Nico stumbled. 

“What?” 

Will smiled, kicking at a pile of snow. A couple of women burst out of a door to their left, stumbling past them and shouting unintelligible well wishes at the pair. Will returned their wave with a smile, before putting his hands back into his pockets and hunching his shoulders against the cold of the night. 

“I know that it can be difficult to come to terms with someone you know being queer, and since we live together - and, well, earlier- I didn’t want you thinking that I was- or, y’know-”

“Wait,” Nico said, stopping. “You think I’m uncomfortable with you being gay?”

Will turned around, blinking away the snow that fell between them. “Well, bisexual, but… yeah? I kind of figured...” 

Nico’s stomach turned.  _ God, what kind of dickhead was he? Fucking asshole. Nico, you prick -  _

“I’m sorry,” he said, fighting down the shouting in his brain. Will just looked at him. “I’m really sorry.” 

A grin broke out across Will’s face. 

“It’s cool, man.”

Nico nodded. He started to walk again, and he could hear the snow crunching behind him as Will began to move too. 

Before he could stop the sick curiosity bubbling up inside him, his mouth was open again, and - 

“Are you dating Connor Stoll?” he asked. 

“What?” he said, slipping on a smooth patch of snow and stumbling. He whipped his head back to look at Nico, with a flush on his cheeks.

“Connor Stoll. Piper said she saw you guys on a date,” his voice was much quieter this time, suddenly ashamed to have asked, to have pried. 

“Oh,” he said. Nico could still see a faint blush on his cheeks. “No. Not really; we went out once, but, ah-”

Nico waited, biting his tongue in a last ditch attempt to avoid saying something  _ even more fucking stupid, you fool-  _

“Well, I don’t think either of us were really in a place to be seeing each other like that.” 

Nico nodded. The knot in his stomach was slowly undoing itself.

“I’m-” Nico began, fighting against the acid in his throat. Could he tell Will? Will had come out to him first. He had told him about his date. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, swallowing the disappointment and the fear. “For prying. And again, for earlier.” 

Will shook his head. 

“No way, man,” he said. “You’re good. Top roommate I’ve ever had.” 

Nico laughed. “For real? Even with all the late nights?” 

“Oh, god, don’t even get me started. When I still lived at home...” 

-

As Will opened their front door, Nico paused. Whatever substances he had put in his body had seemed to wear off before they had left, but the walk home in the cold night air had helped clear his head anyway. The strange, foggy feeling he had had stood in the middle of Jason’s living room at the stroke of twelve was gone.

Will stumbled as he kicked off his shoes, giggling and leaning his hand against the wall to his right. Nico reached a hand out instinctively, stopping just short of his roommate’s back.

“Nico,” he said, stopping and turning as he stumbled into their living room doorway. Nico looked up, meeting his eyes. 

The snow from their walk home had melted in his hair, making the curls frizz up slightly. Even in the dim lighting, Nico could make out the gentle shine in his blue eyes. 

“Nico,” he said, again. He said his name softly, barely pushing the sharp ‘c’ sound. Nico wasn’t used to anyone saying his name as much as Will did, but here he was. As if he couldn’t get the shape of it out of his mouth. 

“Happy New Year, Nico,” he finally said. 

Nico breathed in.

He couldn’t fight the feeling that that wasn’t what Will had been about to say.

Softly, he smiled up at his roommate. 

“Happy New Year, Will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can feel the urge to write this fic from Will's POV grow with each passing day
> 
> Also hey! PJO fics never acknowledge that canonically they all have ADHD and that's a huge oversight I wanted to fix. 
> 
> Yell about SolAngelo with me on tumblr @ americanbeautiies


	6. January

“Alright, Mr. di Angelo,” the doctor said, gently rolling his wrist. “Does this still hurt at all?” 

“No,” he said, looking down at his left arm.  _ God _ , was he glad to have that fucking cast off. 

“Good. I’ll print off some stretches you can do to make sure it strengthens up, and then you can be on your way.”

“Thanks.” 

He could feel his shoulders tense, still. He would never like hospitals, but knowing he could be free of this one in no more than ten minutes was a blessing. 

“And of course,” she said, looking at him with a glint in her eye. “be extra careful with your showers from now on.” 

“Yeah,” he said, feeling himself flush. “Will do.”

He shut the door behind him on his way out, absentmindedly scratching at the dry skin on his wrist. He was more than ready to leave this anxiety prison. 

“Nico!”

He blinked, looking down the corridor and doing a double take when he saw the figure in front of him. 

Will waved, gently nudging Lou Ellen and handing her the clipboard he was holding, but that wasn’t what had surprised Nico so thoroughly. 

He was in navy scrubs, a far cry from the faded sweatshirt and ratty jeans he was used to seeing his roommate in. They fit him well.

“Did you get your cast off?” Will asked as he came up to Nico.

“Yep,” he said, eyes fixated on Will’s weirdly broad shoulders. “About fucking time.” 

“Good,” Will said with a bright smile. He looked genuinely happy for his roommate. It was distracting.

“Okay, shit, I’ve gotta get going,” Will said, glancing over his shoulder. Nico looked up, spotting Lou Ellen waving in their direction. He gave her a nod. “I’ll see you at home?”

“Uh, yeah,” Nico said. 

That was fucking bizarre. 

He walked out into the January air, finally letting out the breath he had been holding from being inside the hospital for half the morning. He was disrupted from the euphoric feeling of not being in a hospital by a gentle buzzing in his pocket.

from: Jason (1:42)

_ Okay, what are we drinking tonight?  _

He sighed. 

from: Nico (1:43)

_ honestly whatever _

from: Nico (1:43)

_ do i have to decide?  _

from: Jason (1:45)

_ Nico di Angelo it is your BIRTHDAY  _

He rolled his eyes. No one was going to let him forget that today was his birthday, no matter how much he wished they would. 

from: Jason (1:45)

_ I’ll bring a selection _

from: Jason (1:46)

_ See you tonight!! _

Honestly, it wasn’t that he didn’t like his birthday: he just didn’t really care. He was fine to spend his birthday on his own. He wasn’t sad to spend it running errands. He honestly relished in the time he could take to study uninterrupted.

And as much as his friends irritated him at times, they let him maintain his boundaries. 

Frank wished him a happy birthday as he picked up a coffee before his trip to the library, but there wasn’t singing and dancing. He said thank you and even smiled. 

He’d be seeing Jason, Reyna and Hazel later that evening, not before he got home. It would be a nice evening with the three of them and his roommate, no one more. 

His friends could be stubborn, but they wouldn’t do anything they knew would upset him. 

But he couldn’t expect too much.

“Jason Grace, have you had that key this _ whole time _ ?” He asked loudly, stood in the doorway to his kitchen, still in his coat and boots. Three bodies  _ that should not have been there  _ were dotted around his kitchen.

Jason jumped where he stood stirring something on the stove, looking a little sheepish - but not nearly guilty enough.

“Happy Birthday!” Hazel called, bounding over and spreading her arms for a hug. 

“That’s a nice scarf,” Reyna commented. 

Nico looked away from Hazel, turning to glare at Reyna instead. She sat at his kitchen table like she belonged there, peeling vegetables as if nothing was happening. “When did you get it?”

“It was a gift,” he muttered, face feeling flushed. 

“From Will?” Jason asked, eyebrow raised. 

“Maybe, why do you care?” he shot back, suddenly defensive. 

Reyna smiled, turning back to her vegetables with a smug look on her face that Nico was not going to dignify with a response. 

“I’m going to shower, don’t burn anything down,” he muttered, turning to his bedroom. 

“Don’t slip and fall again!” Jason called. The three broke into snickers as Nico flipped them off over his shoulder. 

-

“Okay, you have to open your gift now,” Hazel said, turning to face her cousin. He scowled. 

It had been a lovely dinner. He had always been glad Jason could cook, and he would  _ not  _ let him know how much he had missed 24/7 access to his food. Really, a Jason Grace dinner was all he could have asked for.

Really. He didn’t want anything more. 

Receiving gifts made him feel uncomfortable - how was he supposed to react? What if he hated it? He didn’t want the  _ hassle- _

“Hazel-”

He was cut off by a box being unceremoniously dumped in front of him, causing the silverware still on the table to clatter. He sighed.

“Can we get it all over with at once, at least?” 

“Actually, we all went in on this,” Jason said. Nico blinked in surprise. 

“Really?” 

“We wanted to get you something you’d really like,” Reyna added. 

“I’ll be honest,” Will said, laughing. He had returned in time for dinner, and Nico found himself glad for it, even if he didn’t seem to be half as bothered by their sudden, random appearance in his home as Nico was. 

“I didn’t think you’d be into it, but these guys know you better,” he continued. 

Faces around the table smiled, looking a little bit sheepish as Nico opened the box before him. 

He gasped, eyes widening as he scrambled to pull out the small object in front of him. 

“Where did you  _ find this?”  _ He gasped, glancing between his friends and the shiny figurine in front of him. “This is super rare. Like,  _ super  _ rare.”

He heard gentle laughter, but ignored it in favour of examining the figurine in front of him. It was a tiny man in a dark robe, with a skull mask on.  _ The last in the collection -  _

“Frank helped a bit,” Hazel admitted, leaning forward to smile at her cousin. Nico looked up, flushing as he noticed his friends chuckling. His eyes went to Will, who looked absolutely  _ delighted.  _

“I was surprised to know you like Mythomagic, but more than happy to contribute,” he said with a bright smile. 

Nico felt the smile on his face grow, gently returning his new figurine into the box. 

“Thank you guys, honestly. I-”

Hazel jumped up out of her seat to wrap her cousin into a hug. 

“You’re so cute-”

“I am not  _ cute-” _

“Shush, yes you are,” Jason added.

“Happy Birthday, Nico.”

He laughed, feeling a strange lightness in his chest.

It was as if the strange feeling he had felt at New Years, surrounded by ten people closer to him than anyone else, had returned. But it was a lot lighter, to the point where he felt distinctly like he was floating.

“Alright, at Nico’s request -”

“Jason, I did  _ not- _ ”

“We have a  _ wide range  _ of beverages to enjoy,” Jason finished, turning to look at Nico with stubbornness in his gaze. Nico rolled his eyes.

“Okay, go,” he said, not dignifying Jason and Hazel’s cheering with a response. He caught a smile on Reyna’s face as she followed them into the living room. 

“Don’t be too long, Nico,” she said, glancing back. “This is still your birthday.”

He nodded. “I’m just going to clear the table,” he said, voice quiet.

The room went silent as the trio commandeered the living room, centering the noise in there with music and laughter.

“Hey,” a voice said, quietly, drawing Nico out of his reverie. He looked up. 

Will stood in the doorway, looking flushed.  _ When had he left?  _ It was hard for Nico  _ not  _ to notice his friend around every corner. 

“I, uh. Well, here.” 

He thrust a small rectangle wrapped in newspaper at Nico, making him blink in surprise. 

“But you guys all-” 

“I know, I know,” Will said, cutting him off, cheeks red. “I just saw this and thought you’d like it.” 

Nico looked down at it. 

“You couldn’t even wrap it?” 

Will flushed; “I’m trying to cut back on paper usage!” he said. Nico laughed, unwrapping the gift in front of him. 

“I’m just kidd- oh.” 

In his hands, he held a leather bound notebook, embossed with a sketch of a human skull. It had a strange goth feel to it, but had delicate embroidered flowers stitched into it to make it look like they were growing out of dark eye sockets. 

He flipped through it, carefully. The paper was a stunning quality, and-

An inscription. 

His breath caught.

On the first page, written in very carefully inked script, was a message. 

_ For a future big shot academic.  _

  
“Will,” he said, quietly. He swallowed, his throat thick, and looked up at Will. “This is amazing. Thank you.”

Will smiled. 

“I’m glad you like it.” 

“Yeah,” Nico said, and nodded. He was at a loss for words. 

“Anyway,” Will muttered, reaching up to scratch at the back of his head. He shot his eyes to the corner, away from Nico. “I’ll leave you be for a bit. See you in there?” 

Nico nodded, not fully trusting himself to speak. 

Will’s footsteps faded, and Nico set the notebook down on the table, almost reverently. 

His stomach was doing flips, and he did not understand why.

It was a gift. He had received gifts before. Sure, it was lovely, and looked thought out, but so had everything Hazel had gotten him.  _ Hell,  _ the gift they had given him as a group was just as meaningful. It was only different because Will had remembered something Nico had said, once, but  _ why> _

He turned to the sink, gripping the side of it. 

He hadn’t even had anything to drink yet. What the hell was wrong with him? 

He huffed, before wandering out to the living room and closer to the soft noise filtering through his apartment.

He blinked at the scene before him.

Will stood just behind the coffee table, hands in Hazel’s, twirling her around and laughing. 

It was strange. 

Here was Nico, looking out at the closest people in his life. 

Will wasn’t a touch out of place. 

The realisation came with a clarity that startled him. 

Somewhere in the five months they’d been living together, Will had become ingrained into Nico’s friendship circle. That was just a fact. But it was strange to see him here, with his closest friends. With his  _ family.  _ He blended in seamlessly with the rest of them. 

He had been joking with Jason as he cooked and hugging him since the start. He helped Reyna with her vegetables and asked so earnestly where she got her vases. And he stood now, with Hazel, who loved him, twirling her around Nico’s tiny apartment. Around  _ his own  _ tiny apartment.

Here was Nico, turning 22, watching his roommate and his cousin dance in the middle of their living room. His two best friends sat on the floor, watching them both and laughing. Jason was singing along to music Will picked out on Nico’s behalf. 

And here was Nico. 

His heart thudded in his chest. He could feel his stomach twisting. 

He was watching Will. 

As he danced, his curls bounced around his face, framing his smile. His smile, as bright as ever. 

He glanced up and caught Nico’s eyes, beaming.

Nico didn’t stop watching him: not as he let go of Hazel; not as he stepped around Reyna; not as he walked over.

With a flourish, he bent down -  _ oh god, was he  _ bowing? - and offered his hand. 

“Would the birthday boy care for a dance?” he said, laughing as he spoke. 

Carefully, tentatively, so delicately, he put his hand in Will’s. 

Will’s smile widened, somehow, as if that was possible. Distantly, he heard someone - Jason? Hazel? - burst into laughter. At him? At something else? 

Gently, barely to the beat of the song, Will spun Nico around. They stayed connected by the faintest touch of their palms. 

“I don’t have even the slightest bit of rhythm,” Nico said. 

“Well,” Will said, softly, “That makes neither of us.” 

Nico laughed, and Will didn’t stop smiling. 

“Happy Birthday, Nico,” he murmured. 

Nico’s stomach flipped. 

He could feel where their hands were connected. 

His chest felt tight. 

Will tipped forward, letting out a bark of laughter as he caught himself. Nico did not move back. 

The curls of his blonde hair flopped into his face, covering his eyes where they crinkled up in laughter for the briefest moments. 

He was beautiful.

_ Oh,  _ Nico thought, suddenly.  _ Oh.  _

He was hyper aware of the way the palm of his hand felt against Will’s. 

_ Oh.  _

He drew his hand back, fighting with himself to keep from drawing it into his pocket to hide. 

Will simply smiled, having the gall to  _ curtsey.  _ He spun around and danced his way back to the others, sitting down heavily next to Reyna and reaching for a drink. 

_ Oh.  _

Nico stepped back. He retreated into the hallway silently, all the way down to his room, shutting the door behind him with a click and leaning back against it. 

If there was anything he was good at, it was slipping into the shadows and disappearing. 

_ He was beautiful. _

There hadn’t even been a flicker of disappointment on Will’s face when he stepped away. He had accepted it. He had let it be. There had been no judgement when Nico said  _ no,  _ even if it was completely nonverbal.

His legs were shaking. Both of his palms pressed to the solid door behind him. 

His back slipped down the back of the door until he sat in a heap on the ground.

He could still feel the press of Will’s hand on the skin of his own. 

He could feel the light touch of his fingers on his elbow, while he had helped him get dressed all those weeks ago. 

He could hear the gentle pressing questions in a hospital waiting room.  _ First name? Middle name? Mother tongue?  _ They were deliberate, distracting him from an unseen terror without even knowing what or why.

He could see the way Will looked up at him, dazed, from where he had been thrown onto the hard park ground; the way Nico had been in that exact position moments later, looking up at Will’s face as it filled with concern. 

He could just about feel what it might be like to hold his hand. 

Not to touch it fleetingly, but to hold it. Just casually; to have his warm, large hand pressed over Nico’s as they walked. Through the park, lit up by bright lights and softly falling snow. As they sat on the sofa, reading their own things. In the library. At cafes. Both in public, and in their own home.

He could imagine what it would be like to lean against Will, so softly and without even making a big deal out of it, as they studied each night. 

He could gently touch Will’s curls, lean up and- 

He screwed his eyes shut. No, nope, no, he  _ couldn’t-  _

He took a deep breath. 

He couldn’t. 

A knock at the door. 

His stomach flipped, and his hands shook.  _ Please, please, please - _

“Nico?” 

He let out a breath. He stood, turning the door knob and cracking the door open. 

“We’re all going to head now,” Jason said. 

“Cool,” he said, quietly. “I’ll come say goodbye.”

Hazel and Reyna stood bundled up in their coats when he emerged. Hazel eagerly wrapped him into a hug. 

“Happy Birthday, Nico,” Hazel said, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. 

Reyna nodded at him when he looked at her, nudging his shoulder as she walked past to the door. They got each other, when it came to affection. It was a good system. 

“See you guys later,” Will said, popping his head around the corner to wave the three off. 

The door shut, and then Nico was alone with Will. 

He felt like he was going to be sick. 

“Hey,” Will said, softly. “Jason said you just sometimes slip away for no reason, but I thought I’d check you’re okay.”

Nico nodded, shakily. There was acid rising up, up, up his stomach and into the back of his throat. He turned around, keeping his head down. 

“Sorry,” he murmured. Will waved him off. 

“You’re good, man,” he said. “Can I do anything?” 

Nico was hyper aware of the distance between them. He wanted to be closer, he wanted  _ Will  _ to be closer, to press him up against the door and -

His stomach rolled. 

“Nico?” 

Will stepped closer, and Nico wanted to scream. 

“I think I’m coming down with something,” he said, the words bursting out of him.

“Oh.” 

He shot a cautious glance up at Will. He looked genuinely concerned, worrying at his lip with his teeth. 

“Nico, I-”

“Please,” he said, voice quiet. He was officially, and fully panicking. “Please let me leave.” 

Will sucked in a sharp breath. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, of course-”

He stepped to the side, and Nico bolted past to his room, slamming the door with clear finality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oofa this was a cathartic chapter to write! 
> 
> Yell about SolAngelo with me on tumblr @ americanbeautiies


	7. February (One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry in advanced for this chapter, it got a bit... heart wrenching. It also got so long that I ended up slicing it into two chapters, so enjoy that!
> 
> CW:  
> Anxiety attack symptoms

It had been three days since Nico’s birthday. 

He had left in the early hours of the morning, on the day after his birthday. 

He stayed out of the house until he knew Will would be asleep each day since. 

“Nico.” 

He looked up. 

Reyna stood in front of him, casting a shadow over the table he had claimed in his usual corner of the library. She held two cups of coffee. 

“You only get this when you tell me why your best friend has been sulking every time the gym swaps over from Archery to Athletics.”

Nico sighed. He looked back down at his book. His annotations were a mess. 

“Nico.”

“I don’t  _ know, _ ” he said, huffing loudly.

“Bullshit,” Reyna snapped. “Something happened on Friday.”

She had an uncanny habit of making questions sound like sharp accusations, and he had known her long enough to know they weren’t made out of cruelty. 

But he was  _ tired.  _

He shut his book with a thud. 

“Keep the coffee, Reyna,” he said, shoving his book back into his backpack. He avoided her gaze as he turned and made his way to the exit. 

“He’s getting sick.”

He paused. She kept talking to his back. 

“He’s caught something. It might be time for you to just put it behind you and be there for your friend.”

-

He eased open the door to his apartment, trying to be quiet. 

As much as he attempted to convince himself he wasn’t in the wrong, that he was doing this for everyone’s good, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of shame at the thought of waltzing in straight up to Will like nothing had happened. 

The lights were dim. He may be out, this may be fine - 

Nico heard a faint cough from the living room. 

The TV was on at a low volume when he found Will, curled up under more than a few blankets on the sofa. There were cups and tissues littering every surface around him. 

He looked pathetic. 

His skin gleamed with a cold, clammy looking sweat, and his skin looked somehow flushed and far too pale at the same time. Nothing like the warm, golden glow Nico was used to.

"Hey," Nico said, quietly, voice cautious. Will shuffled around his blanket cocoon, until he could look up at Nico. 

“Hey,” Will said. His voice croaked. 

“Need anything?” Nico asked, biting his lip anxiously.

Will was quiet for a moment. After a long pause, he shook his head. His curls, usually so bouncy whenever he so much as moved, stuck to his sweat dampened forehead. 

“I’ll be going back to work tomorrow anyway. I’ll pick something up,” he said. 

“What?” Nico asked, raising an eyebrow. He couldn't be _serious-_

“Work,” he croaked. Nico nearly had to laugh at the image. 

“Are you serious?” 

“Yeah, I’ve gotta -”

“Will,” Nico said, with a stern venom in his voice that surprised even him. “You’re going to rest.”

Will wiggled around under his blankets until he could look up at Nico once more. In the moments their eyes locked, Nico could see a flare of defiance in his blue gaze, but as soon as it appeared, Will looked down and away, like it had taken more effort than it was worth. He curled back into a ball, tucking his face into the sofa cushions. 

Nico heard a gentle, “okay”, and with a knot in his chest, he turned and left.

-

Nico rolled over in bed to reach for his phone, huffing. Insomnia was nothing new to him, but it still fucking sucked. 

1:25 am. 

  
“Fuck,” he muttered gently. There was no point just lying down and waiting for sleep to come. He knew it wouldn't. 

Pushing himself up groggily, he tread lightly out of his bedroom and towards the kitchen. 

He had been intending to head straight to it, but was stopped when he saw the pile of blankets remaining on the sofa. 

“Will?” he whispered, hesitantly. Surely he was - 

The blanket pile moved, rustling as the figure underneath them moved. A small section of golden curls shifted. 

Will’s face was turned up to the ceiling, eyes closed softly as he slept. He still looked a bit clammy, but also…. peaceful. 

_ Stop staring, you fucking creep -  _

He turned to the kitchen. 

He was going to be awake for a while.  Grabbing a glass of water, he got to work. 

They had a meager amount of supplies, but he wasn’t going after anything intense. Quietly, he started rooting through his cupboards, digging out onions, carrots, anything green - 

“Nico?” 

  
A sleepy voice at the door drew his attention. Nico blinked in surprise as he looked at the clock. 2:04. 

“What are you doing?” Will mumbled, scratching at his chin. Stubble had begun sprouting up on his face. 

“Sorry,” Nico whispered. “Did I wake you?” 

Will shook his head, pattering over to look over the stove. A small throw blanket was tossed over his shoulders, and he looked so  _ young.  _

Far too young for whatever the fuck was going on here between them.

“I’ll put it in the fridge for you to reheat tomorrow while I’m out,” Nico whispered. Talking any louder, he thought, might break him. 

“Thanks,” he mumbled, punctuating it with a coughing fit tucked into his shoulder. 

“Go to bed, Will.”

He nodded, sleepily, muttering a soft  _ ‘kay  _ before turning around and wandering out of the kitchen. 

Nico let out a long breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding.

-

He made a point to stock up on painkillers, cough medicine, and tissues the next day, filling his basket at their local pharmacy before trudging back up to his apartment. He couldn’t get it out of his head that this was somehow  _ his fault. _

_ He  _ had been avoiding Will.  _ He  _ had been the one to panic and run.  _ He  _ was just an extra dose of shitty luck on a wonderful man that didn’t deserve it.

The room was as dim as it had been the day before, with Will nowhere to be seen. 

_ He better be sleeping,  _ Nico thought.

After dumping his collection onto the kitchen table, he moved silently through the apartment to his own room.  He could just go and sit and read, get out of his head. 

He couldn’t keep worrying. It would eat him alive. 

The Picture of Dorian Grey did an excellent job distracting him from his worries, he always found. It always worked a treat in taking him out of his head. 

Until it ended. 

As the back cover closed, he was dragged slowly back against his will into real life and all the stress that had been piling up on him in the past week. 

_ Dinner,  _ he thought, blinking against the dim light of his room and standing.  _ If you’re lucky, he’ll be asleep and you can just make some food.  _

He wasn’t lucky.

“Oh,” he said, catching sight of the figure spread on the sofa. “I didn’t know you were in here.”

Will mumbled something unintelligible in response. 

“What?”

“I had the drugs,” he murmured. He had a smile on his face, snickering at a joke only he could have heard. 

“I can see that, Will,” Nico said, laughing with only a hint of awkwardness. 

Will was smiling. He looked happier. At least, less forlorn. 

“You feeling a bit better?” he asked.

Will nodded, or at least, let his head drop forward languidly, a smile still on his face. 

“Nico?”

  
“Hm?”

“Why don’t you like me?”

Nico breathed in sharply, his shoulders going rigid. He could feel his stomach begin tying itself into knots. 

_ Nico, why don’t you like me? _

“I do,” he said, softly, pointedly not looking at Will. If he noticed from his spot sprawled on the couch, he didn’t show it.

“I jus’- fuck, man,” Will said, slurring his words a bit. He rolled his head to look at Nico. His blue eyes were piercing, a far cry from the hazy, faded look Nico had seen in them in the kitchen last night. 

“I want you to like me.”

Nico hesitated. 

_ Fuck. _

“I do like you,” he said again. His stomach was tight. He felt far too close to being sick. What did Will think he meant when he said it? 

Will laughed. 

“You have a funny way of showing it.” 

Nico frowned.  _ God, you asshole, you mean son of a bitch, of course he thinks-  _

“I’m…” he started, trailing off. How could he justify this, to Will, of all people? 

“I’m not mad a’ you,” Will said, trying and failing to push himself up to a sitting position. Eventually he managed, leaning forward to make eye contact with Nico. His eyes were still sharp, even if he seemed far from alert in all other ways. “I’m used to it.” 

“Will, I-” 

“You don’t need to justify it,” he said. He was swaying. “We’re different. Thas’ okay. I’m a big boy, I can handle a bit of rejection.”

It was like bile was rising in his throat, the sour taste enveloping his entire mouth. 

“Will?” he asked, but Will had already fallen back to sleep. 

He swallowed, throat sharp with tears threatening to fall if he didn’t do something  _ now.  _

“Will,” he said, again, louder, still feeling completely and utterly _ pathetic. _

He stepped into the kitchen. Right, dinner.  _ Pathetic, dickhead-  _

No,  _ dinner.  _

He could feel himself panicking, unable to stop any of the anxiety as it rose up and clawed at his throat and  _ squeezed  _ until he couldn’t breathe or speak or move -   
  


He grabbed his bag. 

He was outside, rushing to the stairwell and jumping down the bottom step of each flight of stairs because he had to get out, out  _ now  _ he had to get out right now right now right now  _ right now  _

His phone was at his ear, ringing. When had he started dialing it? 

“Hey, what’s up?” 

_ You’ve ruined everything, you’ve ruined absolutely  _ everything- 

“Nico?”

“Hazel,” he finally pushed out, nearly a whisper. He didn’t know if she could hear him, he didn't _care._

“Nico? Is everything okay?” 

“I’m sorry, I'm sorry _ -”  _

“Nico,” she said, her voice firm, but calm. “I’m off work in five minutes. Come to the cafe, I’ll make you a drink and we can talk it out.”

He was pulled into a warm hug when he stepped through the doors, and he let himself fall into his cousin. 

The adrenaline had seeped out of him, and now he was just limp.

“Oh, Nico,” she said, leaning her cheek against the side of his head. 

She sat him on a sofa pushed up against a wall, returning after who knows how long and gently handing him a steaming cup of coffee. 

The weather had begun to turn mild, with a slushy mix of snow and rain falling against the windows with a  _ tap, tap, tap.  _

He had been silent, sitting there for the time it took Hazel to make him a drink and let him settle. She sat across from him, while he cradled a cup of coffee in his cold hands, and eventually, the tears dripping from the corner of his eyes dried.

"What's going on?" Hazel asked, softly. Nico sucked in a deep breath.

“I don’t know why everything is so hard around him,” he said, in a choked whisper. 

But the moment the words left his mouth, he could feel that they were a lie.

He knew it was a lie, he  _ knew  _ why things were hard. He had known ever since he had hid himself in his bedroom a week ago, with everything from the past months running through his head at lightning speed as he lent against his door in a panic. 

He stared at the cup of coffee in his hands. 

He knew how he felt. 

He knew what he felt when Will’s hands touched his own. He knew what he felt when his infectious laughter brightened up their smokey kitchen. He knew how the kind, quiet tone of his words could soothe the stinging pain of anxiety as he sat in a hospital waiting room. 

Hazel made a soft noise. “Did something happen?”

He looked up, meeting her in the eyes, and slowly, cautiously, nodded. She stared back at him, bright eyes gleaming. 

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“I can’t,” he said, throat dry. 

“Nico,” she said, reaching across the table to firmly placing her hands on his. “You can. I’m your family.” 

_ I’m your family.  _

The thought filled him with terror. 

_ She was family.  _

Closer to him in every way, closer than Reyna or Jason or anyone else he had left in his life. The thought of losing the last tie he had to his blood sent an icy chill of terror down his veins. 

She was family. Her rejection would hurt more than anything else in this world. Losing her would break his heart. 

He couldn’t do that.

His heart was in his throat. He glanced up, once, to see her bright eyes looking at him. Non-accusing. Simply waiting, as if she could wait as long as he needed. 

“I…” he started again, trailing off. His hands gripped his coffee tighter. Her gaze softened. 

“Nico,” she said, softly, “you don’t have to.”

His mouth was making shapes. He could feel her looking at him. He was moving his mouth like he  _ could  _ say it, if he wasn’t a  _ coward -  _

“I promise,” she whispered.

“I like him,” he said, his voice a barely there whisper. Then again, just as quiet: “I really like him.” 

Hazel didn’t say anything, simply nodded. Like she was digesting what he said.   


  
Nico looked up at her, meeting her eyes. She watched him evenly, her gaze never wavering. He had seen her glare and tear down shitty customers and worse classmates with no remorse. 

But now, her eyes were warm. They were looking at him with patience; with kindness, and with love. 

“Hazel,” he whispered, around a lump in his throat. “I’m gay.”

She was quiet, and then:

“Nico,” she said, softly. He could hear her chair scooting back, and then she was dropping onto the sofa at his side, wrapping him in a hug. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head, as he shook with adrenaline. 

“I love you so much,” she whispered, and he sunk into her, tears springing up at his eyes. "This doesn't change that one bit."

Nico sniffled, ducking his head into her shoulder.

“Does anyone else know?” she asked, gently. 

“Jason,” he said against her shirt. His throat felt raw, as if the dark pit of anxiety that made its home in his stomach every day had finally crawled up and burst out, taking his throat with it. “I think Reyna might too.”

Hazel nodded, rubbing calming circles on his shoulder. “And Will? You said you…” 

Nico let out a laugh, one that was wholly self-deprecating. He pulled his face back, leaning against her shoulder. She didn't drop her arms, and for that he would be forever grateful. 

“He thought I hated him because he was bi. I was too scared to tell him I- you know.”

“But you like him?” she asked, voice still quiet. Nico nodded, forehead brushing against his cousin's long curls. He heard her exhale gently. 

“Well,” she said, gently moving herself out from under Nico to kneel down in front of him. “We’re going to forget about him for a bit. I think it’s time for a bit of stress relief.”

He nodded.

“But I need you to know that I love you so much. No matter what,” she said, gripping his shoulders tight. “You’re always going to be my family.”

-

He slept as hers that night. They dragged pillows and blankets and sheets onto the floor of her studio apartment and curled up, facing each other until the early hours of the morning began and they were ready to fall asleep. 

The room had grown quiet. Nico could see her chest rising as she breathed, slowly, steadily. 

“How long have you known?” she asked. Her eyes were closed, gently resting shut, and Nico knew that it was for him. He didn’t have to feel like this conversation was actually happening if she wasn’t watching. 

“A while,” he began. “I- when I first started college…”

“And everyone thought you were in love with Annabeth?” 

Nico let out a laugh, softly; anything more would have broken the calm air of the night. 

“I was  _ jealous _ of Annabeth.” 

Hazel let out a soft laugh. 

“I mean, who isn’t,” she murmured. “I’m hardly surprised Percy was an awakening. Hell, he was for me-”

Nico smiled, ducking his face into the soft pillow beneath his head. 

This night wouldn’t fix everything. In the morning, he would likely go back to hunching his shoulders and walking past every rainbow display with his eyes carefully, purposefully, averted.

He wouldn’t tell Percy. He wouldn’t tell Annabeth. He wouldn’t tell Reyna. 

But here, under Hazel’s thick duvets, with the light from under the front door seeping in, he could laugh. He could tell his best friend in the whole world about the time he had seen the swim team’s charity car wash and walked into a park bench. He could smile as she droned on about  _ his hair, my god, how does he do that?  _

  
It wasn’t quite yet past him, but the worst was finally over. Tonight, he was safe. He was allowed reminisce, to laugh about first crushes and the swim team captain. 

And when they woke up the next morning, Hazel made him breakfast like she did every time he came to stay. He made a neat pile of bell peppers, pulled from his omelet, like he always did, and although he knew she saw, she stayed quiet. 

He’d had a rough day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to yell at me in the comments (I've really enjoyed reading them all! They brighten up my day!) or on tumblr @ americanbeautiies


	8. February (Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments and messages after the last chapter!! <3 
> 
> I don't think this is left in such an emotional place as the last, but I guess you'll all be the judge of that...
> 
> Content warnings:  
> Anxiety attack symptoms

Hazel walked him home the next day, moving at a leisurely pace with her arm linked in his, until they stood before the steps in front of his apartment building. 

He gently withdrew his arm from hers without saying anything, simply nodding once before turning to walk up the worn steps and open the front door. 

“Nico.” 

She was looking straight at him when he turned to look at her, her hands shoved into her jacket pockets. He could see a fierce determination in her eyes.

“I love you so much, you know that?” she said, after a beat.

He swallowed, and nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “I love you too.”

“I mean it. You’re not alone. You don’t need to do anything alone.”

She didn't waver. He knew she meant it. She was the only family he had left. She was his best friend. A sister. 

He nodded one more time. “Thank you,” he said, completely earnest. Her intensity had thrown him for a second, but at the same time, he knew she wasn’t lying. 

Hazel walked up the stairs to him, pulling him into a tight hug. 

“And if he takes it badly, I’ll punch him for you,” she whispered into his ear. 

“The threat alone will scare him off it,” he said with a smile. Hazel grinned. 

“Go get him.”

-

He walked into a bright apartment. 

It had been cleaned. That was the first obvious change. The blankets and pillows that had been strewn about on the floor were neatly fluffed and placed carefully against the back of the sofa. 

All the lights were on. The curtains had been pulled back, even though the February sun was close to setting. The living room window was wide open, and a sharp breeze blew through, ruffling the curtains. Nico shivered. 

“Will?” he called, peering into the kitchen. The piles of dishes - likely built up from Will, considering Nico’s recent absences and general hesitation to cook - had been washed and stacked neatly on the kitchen table. 

From the bathroom, he could hear running water. And then, faintly-

_“Hit it Fergie-”_

Nico bit back a laugh. _Oh my god, is he-_

Indeed, he was. Nico could hear his roommate absolutely _going for it,_ smashing out each part of _Fergalicious_ with pinpoint accuracy. Even knowing the song, he could feel his face flush as he heard Will let out a perfectly timed and incredibly breathy moan. At least, Nico thought, Will was someone who took pride in his performances-

“Oh, my god!” Will shrieked. He was framed in the steamy bathroom door. His hands flew automatically to the towel tied around his waist, and the pile of clothes that had been in his hands dropped to the floor. Nico flushed with a jolt as the door behind Will started to slowly swing shut again. 

“Sorry, sorry-” he stammered, looking down and away and _anywhere other than his still damp chest muscles or the horrifyingly low slung towel or -_

"Uh, can I - let me get dressed?” Will asked. He looked equally flushed, but the steam from the shower was clearly still warming his face. Clearly.

Nico nodded, stepping out of his way. He could feel his shoulders hunching up as the anxiety of everything from the past week began to catch up to him. Will’s rendition of _Fergalicious_ had been a welcome distraction, but here he was again, with his _naked roommate-_

_Focus, you dick._

He didn’t need to do anything huge and life affirming. He could apologise, and he wouldn’t need to tell Will he was gay right now, but he could later in a super calm, casual way, and then be abandoned as Will realised that everything that had happened was because Nico liked him like some creep- 

He was cut off rudely by a loud shriek and a flashing red light.

  
The _fucking_ fire alarm. Because the universe wanted to just ruin Nico di Angelo's whole life, _obviously._

“Did you leave the stove on while you were in the shower again?” he called to Will, peering around and into the kitchen to see if he could spot any smoke or flames. 

“No!” Will said. The door to his bedroom fell open with a bang, and through it stumbled Will. He hopped out of his bedroom doorway, seemingly half way through putting on a pair of jeans. He still hadn’t put on a shirt. Nico shot his gaze back up at the angrily beeping red light. The alarm was doing a fairly good job of making his anxiety skyrocket once more. 

_For god’s sake, he did_ not _need any of this right now._

Will swiped his sweater off the back of the sofa, tugging it on over his head and grabbing his wallet before heading out of their apartment. He didn't seem to care whether or not Nico had followed. 

_Okay, fine,_ Nico thought, ignoring the stinging feeling that left in his stomach. He probably deserved that. 

Will was waiting, at least, in their hallway, but pointedly didn't cast any glances at Nico as he closed the door behind him. 

It was still early February, and they were lucky that it had been a mild one as they exited their stairwell surrounded by tired looking neighbours into the crisp air. Still: Nico could see Will shivering in his sweater as they walked out into the winter air. His hair was still soaking wet; his curls lying limp against his forehead.

“Are you feeling better?” Nico asked. 

“Yeah,” he said with a quick nod. Staying quiet, looking at his feet. “Thanks.”

“Yeah,” Nico mumbled. This was fine. He could do quiet. His eyes shot to the floor, down at -

“Are you not wearing any shoes?” he said, staring more obviously at Will’s feet. He stood in a flimsy pair of red slippers, seemingly doing his best to keep out of puddles as he moved from foot to foot. 

Will let out a sour laugh - nothing like his usual bright smiles, and _god,_ that hurt to see - and rolled his eyes down to look at his roommate. 

“Finally got better and now I’m gonna get sick again,” he said. He sounded bitter. 

Nico frowned. He was used to being the bitter one. 

“Fuck this,” he muttered. He pulled out his phone. _5:02 pm._

“Come on,” he said, looking up at Will with determination. “Let’s get dinner.” 

Will rose an eyebrow.

“Do you want to freeze?” Nico snapped, raising an eyebrow right back at him. 

Will smiled, cautiously. “You know a place?” 

-

  
The diner was quiet, but open. 

“Hello there!” a chipper voice called, assaulting Nico with friendliness as soon as he pushed open the door. 

A small woman stopped in the entryway before them, holding a pitcher of coffee. Before she could say anything more, she gasped, staring incredulously at Will. 

“Young man, are you wearing slippers out there in that weather? You get in here and have some coffee before you catch a cold!”  
  


He smiled, tipping his head with a flush on his cheeks, as if in embarrassment. “I’d like nothing better."

Nico stayed quiet as he slid into a vinyl seat across from Will. He made a point to give the woman a small smile as she handed them menus, before turning to watch Will wordlessly fidget with a coffee stirrer. His curls were beginning to regain their spring, but there was no denying that he was paler than usual.

In the warm light of the diner, he looked completely and utterly exhausted. 

_He’s still sick,_ Nico thought, looking at him. _You're making things worse._

The guilt that had been building in his chest burst out of him without his knowledge or consent.

“I’m sorry,” Nico said, surprising even himself. And, apparently, he said it _loudly,_ if the surprise on Will’s face when it shot up to look at him was anything to go by. 

Even as he steadily met Nico's gaze, he was silent.

“I’m sorry,” Nico repeated, voice quieter but still fuelled by a level of emotion he wasn't quite used to expressing. 

Will sighed. 

“Nico-” 

“Do you remember what you said to me? Last night?” 

Will stopped, taking a beat to simply look at him. Then, slowly, almost uncertainly, he shook his head. 

Nico took a deep breath. _Great. No going back now, di Angelo, you fucking fool -_

“You,” he began, looking down to fiddle with a packet of sugar in front of him. He could hear his voice begin to shake. “You seemed to think I hated you.” 

He chanced a look up at his roommate. 

Will looked - well, it was hard for Nico to tell. He looked hurt. He looked embarrassed. He looked almost resigned.

But mostly, he looked sad. 

“I guess,” he said, letting out a small, hollow laugh. “I guess that could be it.”

Nico frowned. _Fuck._ How had this gone so wrong? It hadn't even been a full week since the night of his birthday. The night that he had seen Will, smiling and laughing like there wasn't anything else he'd rather been doing. Since the night held his _hand._

And now he had well and truly fucked it. 

“But you aren’t under any obligation to like me, Nico,” he continued, looking up from the table. “I know I can be a lot-” 

  
“Will,” Nico said, gently setting down the sugar packet. “I do. I do like you, _please_ -”

“I’ve got some coffee to warm you boys up,” a chipper voice said, gently setting two steaming mugs in front of them. Nico snapped his mouth shut, swallowing down a spiralling feeling of anxiety. 

Will, on the other hand, looked up, smiling brightly. A far cry from the guarded look he had just been giving Nico. “Thank you, ah-” 

“Louise,” she said, sending back a smile equally radiant.

“Thank you, Louise. We’ll be just a little bit longer,” he said. Nico was pretty sure she laughed, or waved her hand, but couldn't say with any certainty. He had been hiding from Will, sure, but now that he was here, sat across from him, trying to figure out what had gone so horribly wrong, it was hard to draw his eyes away from the brightest man in the room. In the city.

He stayed silent. He could convince himself he was calm. The silence grew, and with it, the acid in his throat that was threatening to swallow Nico whole. 

“Why were you avoiding me?” Will said, finally. He set his spoon down with a small clink, and the silence snapped like a cord. 

His hands were shaking. They trembled, the shaking growing with each passing second. As if he noticed, Will wrapped them around his cup, gripping them like a vice. 

“I was scared,” Nico said, voice soft.

“Of me?” 

“Of course not,” Nico said, snapping his eyes up to look Will in the eye. “Of _course_ not, I-”

“Nico,” he said, cutting him off. “Please. Please, just tell me if I made you uncomfortable. At- at your birthday, if it felt like I was coming onto you, or- or god forbid, _harassing_ you- _”_

“Will, _no,”_ Nico said, voice firm. God, was that what he had been thinking this entire time? 

Nico looked him in the eye. He looked absolutely terrified, and Nico could relate. That ugly, horrible feeling was swirling in his stomach, rising up his throat and into his mouth and it was going to burst out of his mouth at any moment and ruin both of them without a single sliver of remorse. 

"Nico-"

“I like you, Will,” he said, doing everything he could to put volume into his voice.

He was _tired_ of hesitating, whispering, _hiding_. 

“I _like_ you.” 

He kept watching Will, watching as his gaze grew puzzled. He felt like a statue, a deer in the headlights, fixated on watching Will's face without having the state of mind to comprehend what he was really seeing. His teeth clenched with his fiery determination to match his gaze and not turn away. 

“When you say you like me,” Will said, voice cautious. “Do you mean…”

  
“I’m gay."

His voice was shaking. His entire body was shaking as the stubborn adrenaline slowly leeched out of him. That was twice, coming out in the past 48 hours. His heart felt like it would shatter with the nervous energy that kept gripping it. 

“Oh,” Will said. Nico felt like he was going to be sick. 

“I-” he said, nearly gasping. “I don’t know what it means to like someone like- like that. I’ve never had a boyfriend, I’ve never been good at knowing how I feel-”

“Nico,” Will said, softly.

“I am _terrified_ ,” he said, the words he had been keeping locked in his heart for the past 22 years _finally_ pushing out of his throat.

Because for God's sake, he was _scared._

He had been scared he would lose Hazel, the same way he had been scared Jason would leave all those years ago. And now, he was scared he would push Will away. That he had already pushed Will away, irrevocably. That Will would realise that he was a lost cause, a basket case, a bucket of anxiety and terror that couldn’t even handle telling his roommate that he was gay, let alone the fact that he maybe kind of possibly wanted to date him.

As if Will would ever possibly want to date _him_. 

“Nico, please look at me,” he said again. His voice was quiet. 

Cautiously, Nico looked up, jolting as he saw tears welling in Will’s eyes. 

“Nico,” he said again, biting his lip. “I’ve been in your position. And I’m just - I’m really sorry.”

His eyes began to sting. 

“No one should have to feel like this, and I’m sorry you do.”

He nodded, still shaking. He honestly didn't know if he would ever stop, after the week he'd been having. 

“Nico,” he said again, voice still quiet. “I have to say something, but I-” he cut himself off with a sigh. “Please don’t let this pressure you into any decision. Okay?” 

Nico nodded. Honestly, he couldn't conceptualise anything that would be pressuring him right now. His mind had turned to cotton candy.

“For what it’s worth. I really like you,” he said. He met Nico’s eyes. His eyes had softened, but he still looked anxious. 

“Okay?” Nico said, waiting for him to go on. Will kept looking at him. 

“I like you, Nico,” he said, again, voice firm. Gently, he moved one of his fingers to brush against Nico’s thumb. 

“Oh,” he said, blinking. _Oh._ He could feel his cheeks flush. “Since when?”

Will let out an incredulous laugh, rolling his eyes gently. “Probably since you threw me to the ground playing capture the flag thinking I was Jason.”

Nico smiled, but his heart was aching. 

  
“Will,” he began. “I don’t think… I can’t… I mean-”

“That’s okay,” he said in a rush, gently cutting him off. Gently, he lay his hand out. Close enough for Nico to reach, and far enough for there to be distance at the slightest mention of discomfort. 

“I respect that. I’m not going to pressure you into anything, I just wanted you to know.” 

Nico nodded. He swallowed around the lump in his throat. 

“Thank you,” he croaked. 

Will grinned, a spectacularly bright smile that broke across his face like first dawn.

“I’m just happy being your roommate,” Will said. “Just for now, or forever, or for however long you want.” 

_He’s lying, you’re breaking his heart, you monster-_

Nico took a sip of his coffee, chasing away the thoughts in his head.

For once in his _fucking_ life, he was going to trust that when someone said something like this, they meant it. 

He looked at Will, through the budding tears that threatened to finally fall. His blue eyes glistened with unshed tears. Nico sniffled, gently reaching out to Will, hoping - 

Will leant forward, tightly gripping his hand, and Nico felt _safe,_ even as tears began to fall. 

“Oh, darlings, are you okay?” a gentle voice said, carrying across the room. Nico let out a sharp bark of laughter in surprise, at the sheer absurdity of the situation. He gently wiped at his eyes, with the back of the hand not held under Will's. 

He could see Will smile at him, nothing but fondness in his eyes, before wiping at his own damp eyes and turning to look up at Louise.

“We’re all good, I think,” he said. Behind the faint tear tracks left on his cheeks, he looked wild, glancing at Nico with a look of - delight? confusion? glee? - at the strange turn their night had taken. “But it might be time for a bit of pie.”

“Of _course_ it is,” she said, reaching down to take their menus with a fiercely determined look in her eye. “I’ll be getting you two each a slice of the best we’ve got. And don’t you try to pay for these, you boys look like you need a bit of a treat.”

Nico took a deep breath, feeling the warm weight of Will's hand atop his. 

He could deal with this. 

For god’s sake, he _would_ deal with this. And when he was ready -

Well. One step at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you seen that vine that's like "I don't sing in the shower, I PERFORM" ? That's what I based that one scene off of. 
> 
> But yeah! This fic is on it's last legs, with one and a half chapters left or so? Thank you to everyone for all the support you've given on this, it's really been a treat to write and share! 
> 
> EDIT: wow don't let me upload fics past 11pm 😂 I've fixed some spellings and also places where I just... totally forgot words. But do give me a shout if I forgot something again!
> 
> As always, yell at or with me on Tumblr @ americanbeautiies


	9. February, March, April

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just cannot stop splitting chapters in two, apparently! 
> 
> Also, for real, all the love I've been getting for this fic is too much, I've felt so supported by all of you lovelies <3 <3 <3 
> 
> This is like, epilogue zone - the next chapter should be posted a bit sooner than this one was, but we'll see!

It was late when they got back into their apartment. The fire alarm, apparently, had been a false one, and their building was quiet when they returned. 

If he was honest, Nico had forgotten the fire alarm had ever gone off. They had stayed in the diner, simply enjoying their Pecan pie and talking to each other. 

Not about anything deep, or dark, or difficult. But about their papers. Whether Will was feeling better. A definitive ranking of pies. 

“Hey, can I reach-”

Nico jumped, drawn out of his thoughts where he stood before the kitchen sink, filling a cup with water before bed. He had been so drawn into remembering the strange twists and turns of his night, that he hadn’t even noticed-

Will stood at his side, reaching his long arm over Nico’s head to pull out a cup for himself. From the angle he stood at, Nico could see a faint scratch at his chin. He had nicked himself shaving. 

_ I could just lean up and -  _

He saw Will jolt, pulling his arm back quickly, empty handed. 

“Ah! Sorry, sorry-”

Nico turned his eyes back down towards the countertop, ignoring the fluttering in his heart and the voice that yearned for him to put his arm back where it was.. 

_ No _ . He was determined to not fuck this up, and if that meant waiting - well. 

He could fucking wait. 

“It’s okay,” Nico said, stepping back with his mug and gesturing to the cupboard. He looked up at Will and smiled. “Honestly.”

Will laughed, a small, awkward laugh. “Okay. Sorry though. You know, impulse, and. Uh-”

  
“Goodnight, Will,” Nico said, cutting off Will’s rambling with a gentle word. 

Will smiled, and Nico felt his heart thump. 

“Goodnight, Nico.”

  
  


_**Mid February** _

“Why are you  _ so  _ committed to morning lectures?”

Nico blinked, and then sighed, already far too tired of this interaction. 

“A 9am class is better than an 8am class,” he muttered. His eyelids felt  _ heavy.  _

He registered Hazel laughing at him, a sound that was far too loud for the time of morning it was.

“Sure, sure,” she said, grabbing his cup and waving him on absentmindedly. 

“Ah, hey, Nico, hey, dude,” Frank said, from his spot by the collection point. He was bustling around the coffee machine. “How’s it going? Good? Hope you’re good-”

Nico nodded, tuning him out until his coffee cup was placed before him by jittery hands. 

“Thanks, Frank,” he said, voice still low with sleep. “See you round.”

“Uh, yeah, sure thing-”

“Bye Nico,” Hazel called, waving. He vaguely attempted to wave back. 

_ God _ , he was fucking exhausted. 

\- 

Nico was woken up by a sharp, loud ringing. 

He jolted, blinking at the bright light.  _ What the fuck- _

“Mr. di Angelo,” a voice said, sharp and stern. “I can overlook sleeping in class, but please remember to turn your phone off.”

Nico flushed, a deep, dark red.  _ Right. 9 am class.  _ He vaguely muttered a soft sorry, ignoring the flushing of his cheeks as his classmates snickered at him. 

“As I was saying-”

While his professor dragged on, he cautiously pulled his phone out of his pocket. After double checking it was definitely on mute this time, he dug out the messages that had woken him up. 

from: Hazel (9:32)

Ajdgfl NOICO 

from: Hazel (9:32)

NICO DI ANGELO

from: Nico (9:34)

thanks for waking me up

from: Nico (9:34)

you better be dying

from: Hazel (9:36)

It’s your own fault for sleeping in class

from: Hazel (9:36)

Also bitch I might be!

from: Hazel (9:37)

Get your sleepy ass to the cafe after class asdkjf

from: Nico (9:38)

Hazel? You okay?

from: Nico (9:42)

HAZEL

He shoved his phone in his pockets. Fine. He could listen to another 20 minutes of - fuck, what was this class on? 

He rushed out as soon as his professor dismissed them waving another, final apology at her as he left, before crossing the street and ducking back into the cafe. 

It was far quieter than it had been earlier, with fewer students desperate for a caffeine boost, but he still couldn’t spot Hazel. His eyes landed on Frank where he stood quietly organising the cake display.

“Hey, Frank, where’s-”

A hand shot out, grabbing his wrist and pulling him down onto a sofa with a loud  _ thump _ . 

“Jesus  _ Christ _ , Hazel-”

“Frank asked me out on a date,” she hissed, staring at him with big, round eyes. Nico blinked at her, trying to absorb what she said. 

“Oh my god, Hazel, that’s great-” he said, a smile growing across his face as her words registered. “Is it great?”

“It’s great!” she squealed, launching herself to hug him. He laughed. 

“I’m really happy for you,” he said, patting her back gently. Over her shoulder, he caught Frank glancing their way, face red, before turning away rapidly. He could still spot a small smile on his face. 

When she pulled back, he could see she was no less ecstatic than she had been, but her cheeks had flushed. 

“Thank you, Nico,” she said, wrapping her arms around his as she leant against his shoulder. “You really- well, you did something.”

“Hardly,” He snorted. “It was all you two. I’m just your asshole cousin.”

Hazel smiled. “Well, that is  _ something.  _ And I appreciate it.”

“Love you, Hazel,” he said. He would do absolutely anything for her, just like he knew she would do anything for him. 

“So, where is he taking you?” 

  
  


_**March** _

Nico opened his eyes to a bright, sun-filled bedroom. 

He had left his curtains open, apparently, and the sun hadn’t hesitated to lay claim to every corner of his room. 

He hadn’t forgotten what day it was, but a hard pit of dread still formed in his chest when he rolled over and saw the date blinking up at him from his phone screen. It had been on his mind since March had begun, but it was different to wake up and see the number on the screen in front of him. It made it real.

A message from Hazel sat unopened and unread. 

from: Hazel (8:18)

_ I love you very much <3  _

from: Hazel(8:19)

_ Let me know if you need anything  _

from: Nico (8:30)

_ Thanks _

from: Nico (8:33)

_ I love you too _

He forced himself to sit up, throw his feet over the side of the bed, and stand. Step by single, slow step. 

_ Coffee. Just get coffee. _

He wandered into the kitchen, step by single step.

And then, to his surprise: a full pot of coffee, waiting for him. His mug was already set out on the counter. He blinked in surprise. Will hardly ever drank coffee. 

“Nico.”

Will stood in the doorway, and he smiled cautiously when they made eye contact. 

“Hey,” he said, quiet. 

“Hey,” Nico replied, cautious.

“Hazel told me about today.”

_ Ah.  _

“I usually spend it alone,” Nico said. Will nodded. 

“I respect that. But- well, I have my car, and I could-”

Nico sucked in a breath. 

“I- it’s two hours away, Will-”

“And even longer if you have to get public transport,” he added, looking Nico in the eye. “I’m not going to change any part of today if you don’t want me to, but. Yeah. If you want a ride, I’ll take you.”

Nico paused, swallowing down against the hard pit in his chest. 

“I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”

-

The ride there was quiet.

With Nico’s permission, Will had turned on the radio and quiet music floated in the background of the car. He sat in the passenger seat silently staring out of the window as trees and rolling countryside blew past. Absentmindedly, he fiddled with the cellophane wrapping a small, white bouquet of flowers.

The cemetery wasn’t large, but neither was it small. 

Nico was sure someone could get lost if they didn’t know where they were going, but with all the times he’d been coming here, he knew the route he had to take like the back of his hand. 

“I’ll wait over here,” Will said as they got out of his car, stretching in the fresh air. The day was crisp, still early on in spring, but the sun was warm.

Nico turned when he felt Will’s eyes linger on him, giving him a gentle nod before turning away to make his way deeper into the wooded grounds. 

He trudged along, hunching his shoulders against the cool air lingering beneath the shadows of the trees above him. The trees had grown thicker by the time he stopped, taking a deep breath before crouching down in front of a marble headstone. 

“Hey, Bianca,” he murmured. He gently placed the flowers he had brought with him on the cool stone before him. “It’s been a while.” 

“Twelve years, now. Hazel is doing well; she said she’ll try and visit. And I- I met someone. We aren’t dating, but- maybe we could.” 

He stopped and laughed, gently, and the tension in his chest eased, slowly, slightly.

“Dad would hate him, but fuck Dad.” 

-

He hadn’t cried at any point while he sat before his sister’s tombstone. 

He hadn’t cried all day, really, but there was something about seeing Will perched on the hood of his car tapping away at a game on his phone that twisted something in him. 

“Oh, hey, hey,” Will said, shoving his phone back into his pocket hastily and sliding down onto the ground. “It’s okay, Nico-”

“I’m sorry,” he huffed, wiping at his eyes, where tears were spilling down his cheeks and chin. “Sorry.” 

“Hush,” Will murmured, raising his hand as if to place it on Nico’s shoulder and holding it still about a foot above him. 

“Will,” Nico said, voice breathy. He clenched his hands into fists a few times, struggling to find the words. “I-” 

“Can I hug you?” Will’s voice was quiet, hesitant, and Nico nodded with another rough, loud sob, before falling forward into Will and letting himself be held. 

-

Will played the music a bit louder on the way home, and Nico didn’t mind. 

“Do you have plans to see Hazel?” he asked as they drew closer to the city. The day had shifted, since they left the cemetery, and Nico wasn’t sure what it was - but he knew he didn’t mind. 

He shook his head in response to Will’s question.

“Not really. We might go out tomorrow and catch up, but we don’t usually spend today together.” 

Will nodded. “Well, we can just go home then and rest. I’d offer to cook dinner, but that might make you feel worse. Takeout?”

Nico bit his lip, smiling against it. “That’d be nice,” he said. He didn’t think he could really laugh, not today, but a smile was something. 

He was cut off from his thoughts by his phone as it loudly buzzed in his pocket. 

“Who on-” he muttered as he dug it out. Hazel didn’t usually - 

He blinked, once, and then again, at the name lit up on his screen.

“Thalia?” he asked as he brought the phone to his ear. He caught Will shooting him a confused glance out of the corner of his eye, before turning down the radio. 

“Hey,” she said, breathlessly. “Sorry. I-” 

He heard her sigh, and then a rustle, like cloth brushing against the receiver. 

“I wanted to see if you were okay,” she asked, voice shaking. 

Nico swallowed. He wasn’t, not really, not today, but the shock and confusion of her calling him was the only thing at the front of his mind at that moment. 

She hardly ever talked to him, unless they had been brought together by Reyna or Jason or Percy or anyone else. In part, that might have been down to him, but she  _ never  _ called him, and he never minded. If he was honest, now that she had, he was a bit uncomfortable. And yet, today - 

“Yeah,” he said, voice croaking. “Are you?” 

She laughed, a hollow sound. 

“I suppose. I- twelve years, Nico,” she said, quietly. Nico nodded, irrelevant of the fact she couldn’t see him. He didn’t know what to say.

“I…” she started again, before, trailing off. He heard her take a deep breath. “I really loved her, Nico.” 

He paused. He could feel her trying to say something; it was a sensation he was well aware of. 

“She was the first girl I ever really liked, y’know?” she continued. Nico sucked in a breath. He hadn’t known. “And I just - after all of everything, I feel like a dick for not taking care of you.”

“Thalia, you were  _ thirteen- _ ”

“And you were only ten,” she replied, voice sharper than he was used to. “I could have brought you with me when I left, or-”

  
“Thalia,” he said, voice firm. “It’s okay.”

She stopped, and he heard her take a deep, shaky breath. Vaguely, he could hear her sniffle, like she was trying and failing to bite back tears. 

“It’s okay,” he repeated. “I’m. We’re okay.” 

“Yeah,” she said, voice shaky. “Fuck.” 

Through the phone, he could hear distant footsteps, and then a gasp, followed by soft mumbled words. 

“Thalia,” he said, again. “Go be with Reyna. I’ll call you again tomorrow.” 

“Okay,” she said, laughing shakily. “I love you, man.”

Nico smiled. “You too.”

He was quiet as the call quietly clicked off, dropping his hand into his lap. 

“Are you okay?” Will asked, voice quiet as he broke the silence.

Nico looked out the window, out towards the trees framing the road. They were just starting to turn green again. 

“Yeah. I am.”

_**April** _

“You look like the worst cheerleader I’ve ever seen.”

Nico glanced up from where he had been staring at his phone, hunched over on the bleachers in their school’s gymnasium. He was in the middle of a swathe of other students, decked out in blue and gold and yellow. He knew quite well that he stuck out like a grey smudge.

Nico di Angelo was not usually one for college sports. 

Hazel, on the other hand, was the picture perfect sports fan. She had tied her hair up in two round bunches at the top of her head, adorned with yellow and blue ribbons, and, apparently, liberated an Archery team sweater from Frank - if the fact it very nearly reached her knees was anything to go by. Nico half worried she would get lost in the fabric. 

“Hello, Hazel,” he muttered, shuffling up so she could sit next to him. He wasn’t sure what exactly people would think when they saw the two of them together - he never was - but as it was, he did not care. 

They were here for other reasons.

The floor before them was slowly filling up with student archers pulled from across the state. He wasn’t sure how big today’s tournament was meant to be, nor how important, but he would be damned if he was going to miss it.

“Can you see them?” Hazel asked, leaning forward in her seat and scanning the crowd before them. Nico glanced away from his cousin, and down to the crowd. 

“Oh, there!” 

She jumped up to wave, and Nico smiled as she called out their names as if Frank and Will would be able to hear her over the roar of the chatter filling the hall. 

He could see them, thanks in part to Hazel’s pointing, and watched as Frank scanned the crowd until he spotted Hazel. Nico watched him nudge Will, pointing in their direction. 

Will looked directly at him, and his face brightened. Nico felt his heart thump loudly in his chest, and then Will was waving, big sweeps of his arm above his head.

“So what do you know about archery?” Nico asked, drawing his eyes away from Will to look at Hazel. He kept his eyes fixed on her, despite the gravitational pull he could feel from his roommate, stood so close, and smiling. 

-

  
  


“Number 5: Frank Zhang.”

The room was quiet, and then - 

Nico rose an eyebrow as the room cheered, turning to look at the arrow Frank had let loose where it sat embedded in the target across the room. 

“Your boyfriend is good,” he said, watching Frank flush at the cheers and whoops of his teammates. 

He turned to look at Hazel, watching her small, private smile and flushed cheeks. 

“Shut up,” she muttered, but the smile spreading across her face didn’t stop. 

Below them, Will smacked a hand on Frank’s shoulder after another excellent shot, as the crowds cheered. He was gesturing, clearly excited, with a wide smile on his face. 

“Did you know they were friends?” Nico asked. Hazel nodded slowly; she had turned back to the floor to watch.

“A bit,” she said. “Frank mentioned him, but apparently he only ever talked about you.”

Nico spluttered, whipping his head up to look at his cousin. He could feel his cheeks heating up. Hazel snickered. 

“Shut up,” he muttered, ducking down into his jacket. He sat, quietly, but couldn’t ignore the thought gnawing at his head. 

“What did he say?”

Hazel laughed, leaning her head against Nico. 

“I swear, Hazel-”

“No, no, I’m sorry! I’m sorry,” she said, still giggling. “Asking what kind of food you like, how he could be a better roommate, that kind of thing.” 

Nico rolled his eyes, gently resting his head atop Hazel’s. Absentmindedly, he began biting the inside of his cheek, watching the next archer step up with half of his attention. 

He wasn’t sure what he had expected Will to tell Frank, if he was honest. He knew, straight from the man himself, that Will liked him. Or, he had in February. 

He let out a breath. He trusted Wil. He  _ did.  _ If something had changed, he would have told him. 

“Do you still…” Hazel continued, voice trailing off softly. He felt her move her face to look up at him. The unspoken rest of the sentence hung in the air. 

_ Do you still like him? _

Nico chewed on his lip, debating with himself. He could lie, or not.

“Yeah,” he said, finally. “I do.”

Hazel kept watching him, quiet. 

“Number 7: Will Solace.”

His eyes shot to the centre of the floor, cutting off any further thoughts he had on the matter. Will stood, drawing back his bow and readying his aim.

He shot.

Nico’s breath hitched. 

_ Will  _ was good. 

He didn’t know a thing about Archery, but he knew that when something looked effortless _ ,  _ it concealed a great deal of hard work and practice. 

Will made this look effortless. 

Nico watched him breathe out, slow, and let another arrow fly. As if it was nothing. 

He hit the target dead on. 

Nico watched, almost distracted, as he pumped his fist and jumped up into the air, turning his back to the crowd to shout with Frank and his other teammates in excitement. 

He couldn’t get the image of Will - stood silent and calculating, and now jumping and celebrating - out of his head. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to for a while.

His heart thumped, and he knew why. And he didn’t mind. 

He let out a slow breath. 

He didn’t mind at all.

-

“Guys!” Hazel shouted, bouncing into the air and waving at Frank and Will. “You were amazing!”

When they got closer, she jumped onto Frank, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. 

The crowd had flooded onto the floor to find and congratulate the winners when they’d been crowned. The two still stood, bows in hand. Will, with a bronze medal around his neck, and Frank, with gold. 

Nico had locked onto Will as soon as the crowd had surged up. He couldn’t tell if the force drawing him down and onto the floor, like he was a boat drawn out to sea, was the pull of the crowd, or if it was Will. 

He looked up at Will as he flushed, ducking his head and smiling as Hazel continued to shout praises at them.

“Ah, thanks, I-”

Nico hugged him. 

He felt Will’s breath hitch, a sharp, sudden thing, before strong arms wrapped around him. He tightened his grip around Will’s midriff. 

Vaguely, he could hear Hazel’s voice, but it was distant: lost in the roar of his heart pounding in his ears.

“Hey,” Will said, voice somehow quietly muffled and crystal clear at the same time. Nico could feel his breath against the top of his head. “Thanks for coming.” 

Nico took a breath, catching the scent of citrus before even realising that he had stepped back and out of Will’s space. Old habits die hard, but he still had to fight to gently tamper the flicker of disappointment when Will dropped his arms.

It was crowded. He looked up at Will. He could feel his cheeks flushing at their proximity. Even after he stepped back, Will was close. 

People passed behind him, jostling him where he stood, making the tiny gap between him and Will seem even smaller. 

Nico felt his stomach flip, but not the kind of flip that characterised terror. 

They were surrounded by people. 

Nothing could happen. 

“I’m really proud of you,” Nico said. “You did amazing.”

Will’s gaze brightened, and Nico smiled.

  
“Well, I had to do well with you finally at a match. It wasn’t hard to spot you, you know,” he said, eyes crinkling as he smiled. .

Nico rolled his eyes, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He could feel his palms sweating, his cheeks growing hotter, but the smile on his face stayed.

“I wouldn’t miss this.” 

They were surrounded by people. 

Nothing could happen. 

At least, not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continue to yell at me on tumblr @ americanbeautiies if you want! <3 
> 
> I made myself sad writiing this chapter, I'm sorry if I therefore made you sad LMAO
> 
> Also again I KNOW he canonically sucks shit at Archery but I wanted him to do something cool soooo Archery lmao


	10. May, June, July

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, the penultimate chapter 
> 
> I just, cannot express how much of a journey this has been for me! This has been the biggest fics I've written, and it's been so wonderfully well received, and I've loved the process of writing it. I really hope y'all enjoy <3

**May**

“Will,” Nico said. “I want you to take me on a date.”

Will froze, fumbling the tray of chicken nuggets he was drawing out of the oven. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, wide eyes glancing between where Nico stood leaning against the kitchen counter, and the open oven door. 

“I- okay, wait, hang on-”

Nico blushed, jaw tensing.  _ You dumbass, you idiot, you- _

“Sorry, I-”

“No, no,” Will said, looking around in confusion. “It’s fine, just, uh -”

_ Nico di Angelo you fucking fool -  _

“Okay, so,” Will said. He had finally set the tray down on the stove top, and was looking at Nico. “From the top.”

“I want to go on a date with you,” Nico said, voice suddenly much, much quieter. He had started to absentmindedly chew the inside of his cheek. “If- if you still- you know. If not, that’s fine, I can- don’t worry, actually, this was stupid-”

“No, no, Nico-” Will said, jumping up and over to his roommate as if that would stop him fleeing back to his bedroom. “That’s not what I meant. Ah, fuck.” 

Nico looked up at him. He had his hand tangled in his hair, looking over Nico’s head. He looked just as red as Nico felt. 

“I’d like to take you out,” he said, glancing down at Nico, then back away in a vague direction. Nico let a flicker of hope in his chest take hold, that maybe Will was just as awkward as he was. 

“I think I’m just confused as to why you’re asking me now,” he continued. 

Nico bit the inside of his cheek.  _ God, why had he ever thought this would go smoothly?  _

“I dunno,” he said; quiet, but so, painfully honest. “I just… don’t think I’m as nervous about it as I was before.” 

He glanced up at Will’s silence, to see him smiling softly down at Nico.

“Okay,” Will said. He spoke softly. “In that case, I would like nothing more than to take you out, Nico di Angelo.” 

Nico felt himself smile back at him, and his heart fluttered in his chest. 

“I look forward to it, Will Solace.”

-

“How’s Frank?”

Nico lay on his stomach on Hazel’s bed, cheek squished up against his crossed arms.  He could see Hazel smile where she lay next to him, her bright eyes glimmering. They had been doing that a lot lately, and almost always without fail when she was asked about Frank. 

“He’s good,” she said, pushing herself up onto her forearms and resting her chin in her hands. “Really good. I’m- we’re having fun. It’s good.” 

He could hear the smile in her voice, louder than the noise filtering in through her open window. It was slowly becoming warmer, and Hazel adapted to the warm weather like a sunflower.

“Good,” he said with a smile. He was happy for her - more than happy. She deserved this and every other good thing in the world. 

He turned onto his side, watching her eyes crinkle as she smiled. She let her head drop to the side, meeting his eyes.    
  


“Okay, you  _ always  _ ask about Frank. How’s Will?”

“He’s fine,” Nico said, shrugging. “Not quite done with exams yet.”

Hazel nodded, looking at him with a look on her face that he couldn’t place. She looked cautious, and he couldn’t place why. 

“You and him are…”

  
“Oh,” he said, blinking. That was why. “I, uh. I have a date.” 

In a moment, she was sitting up straight, turning to look back down at him with such speed that her hair swung around into her face. She spluttered, drawing the curls out of her mouth. 

“I’m sorry, what? With  _ who? _ ”

“Who do you think?” he grumbled, face red. He couldn’t say he was very pleased with the sudden attention on him. “Will. He’s. Taking me out on a date.”

“Sorry, excuse me, when did this happen?” Hazel said, shuffling where she sat so that he couldn’t get away from her gaze. 

“Uh,” Nico felt his cheeks flush, eyes going wide. 

_ You fucking fool.  _

_ You didn’t tell Hazel.  _

_ “Nico di Angelo, _ I swear to god-”

“Like, technically only a few days ago-” 

“A few days!”

“I mean,” he said, averting his eyes. “Kind of also the week after my birthday-”

“Nico!” Hazel cried. “It is  _ May. _ ” __

“I know, I know-”

“Your birthday is in  _ January!” _

“Oh, my god, I know!” He said, burying his face in his arms, as if that would keep him hidden from Hazel’s incredulity. “I’m sorry! I just- I assumed I’d told you?”

“You are something else,” she said with an incredulous laugh, shaking her head and flopping down onto the bed again. He felt a smile twitch at the corner of his lips, in spite of the guilt he felt. 

“I should have told you,” he said, turning his head to look at her. Her eyes met his. 

“Well,  _ should  _ is a strong word. You should only do you what makes you happy,” she said. He took a breath. “But I’m still glad you told me.”

He smiled. 

“Me too.”

-

“Hey guys, it’s good to see you!” Frank said, smiling at Nico where he stepped up to the counter, next to Will. “You here for another study session?” 

They were not here for another study session. The question sent a spiral of anxiety curling through Nico’s stomach. 

Will had been the one who suggested they go get coffee for their first date. 

“I love a coffee date, you know, it’s so cozy, and I just find that it’s so much easier to get to know someone-”

Yeah. 

Nico hadn’t really listened to all the tiny details, but he was glad Will was excited. He just wanted to be on a date. 

He hadn’t been  _ surprised  _ by Frank’s presence, per se. Hazel had suggested they go while she was on shift, for moral support, and had been clear when Frank would be there. And when he had planned it with Will, featuring input from Hazel, part of Nico had seen it as a good sign. 

In theory, it was a great idea. Frank was nice. Nico could practice what it was like finding the right words on someone him. 

In reality, Nico felt like he was suspended over a 200 foot drop into thin air, and he was  _ not  _ a fan. 

“Actually,” he began. His throat was dry, and he stopped himself. 

Over Frank’s shoulder, he could see Hazel glance in his direction from behind the counter. She shot him a reassuring smile. 

Will was warm beside him. 

“We-” he started. He could feel Frank’s eyes on him, patient, a bit confused. Nico took a deep breath.

Frank was nice. 

He could do this. 

Looking up at Will, he slowly, cautiously, reached to take his hand in his. Will wrapped his hand around his, and gently squeezed his palm. 

“I’m here on a date. With Will. I’m on a date with Will. We’re - I’m gay.” 

Frank glanced between the two of them, then down at their hands, before looking up to meet Nico’s eyes. “Oh! That’s cool, guys, congrats. How long has that been going on?”

Nico felt close to deflating, letting out a sigh of relief. He felt like he had used up all his energy with sixteen tiny, jumbled words. 

To his utter delight and eternal appreciation, Will answered for him. 

“Not too long, it’s just been slow going,” he said with a smile. Frank nodded. 

“Cool, cool, I can dig that. So, black coffee for you Nico, I assume - what is it for Will?” 

Nico tuned out the chatter of small talk between Will and Frank, but then there was Hazel, ducking under the counter and coming up to give him a tight hug. 

“I’m so proud of you,” she whispered, pressing a kiss against his forehead. “Enjoy your date.”

-

He did enjoy his date. 

It was fun. Will made him smile, the way he always did, with eye rolls and the faintest grins. It was nice to know that he was here because he liked Nico, and not just because they lived in the same apartment. 

They spent the better part of their afternoon at the cafe, the hours passing faster than Nico could really keep track of. With sun raining golden down onto the trees above them, and smiles and waves from Hazel and Frank, they ended their afternoon after a day of good company.

Will didn’t try to hold his hand when they left, and Nico let himself feel the tiniest, faintest flicker of disappointment. 

“I guess I don’t need to worry about being gentlemanly and walking you home,” Will mused as he unlocked their front door. He stepped in, holding it open for Nico with an extra flourish. 

“Thank you for your chivalry,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Do I have to close it myself?” 

“Yes, we live in an egalitarian household.” 

Nico kicked the door shut, moving to slide off his shoes.

His elbow smacked against Will’s back.

“Ow,” he muttered, rubbing his arm. “What the fuck, Will?” 

“Sorry! Sorry,” Will laughed, before trailing off. 

Nico looked up. 

Oh. 

Will stood close to him. 

Pretty fucking close.

Not as though he was leering: he looked as though he’d been as caught off guard by Nico’s sudden presence as Nico had been himself, and was now frozen awkwardly. 

“Hey,” Nico said, voice gentle. 

“Hey,” Will replied. Nico could see a soft flush crossing his cheeks. 

“Hey.”

Will raised an eyebrow, grinning at him as he started to look less and less awkward. “You said that already,” he said.

Slowly, silently, Nico leaned back against their front door. He let his palms lay against the wood gently. 

Will didn’t move back. 

Nico couldn’t help but notice he didn’t move any closer, either.

He bit the inside of his cheek. Was he being too obvious? Or not obvious enough? 

He didn’t have the faintest idea; he was brand new to all of this. He had never kissed anyone. He had never been kissed. He couldn't tell how to make clear what he wanted.

He couldn’t even tell what  _ Will  _ wanted.

“Are you okay?” Nico asked, the tiniest note of concern in his voice, suddenly worried he had read everything wrong. 

He could stay casual, right? Right. 

Right? 

“Ah, yeah, sorry-” Will said with a jolt, like he was a tiny robot shocked into movement. He took a step back.

“Will,” Nico said, scrambling finding his voice before he could back down, tired of hesitating, and cut Will off. 

“Do you want to kiss me?” 

Will scrunched his eyebrows, laughing a little sheepishly. 

“Sorry, is it that obvious? I- obviously, if you don’t want to-”

“Will,” Nico said, again, voice firm. _Obvious my ass._ He tilted his chin up. “I want you to kiss me.”

Nico didn’t miss the sharp intake of breath at his words. And then, gently, so gently; 

“Yeah.”

He leaned down slowly, with his hand resting so, so gently by the side of Nico’s head. Even though he wasn’t touching him, Nico felt like he was being pressed softly, almost imperceptibly against the door. 

His eyes fluttered shut and then, so softly, Will was kissing him. 

Nico’s hands curled into fists where they lay against the door, and on either side of his head, he could feel Will’s doing the same. 

He hummed against Will’s mouth into the kiss, straightening his back and stretching away from the door to kiss back just as softly. 

He felt Will pull back, but his hands stayed where they were, either side of Nico’s head. 

He let himself breathe for a moment before opening his eyes to look up at Will. He smiled, a bright, beautiful thing.

“You could stand to be a bit more obvious, by the way,” he murmured before leaning up and placing his hand on the juncture between Will’s neck and shoulder. Slowly, but no longer as cautious as he once was, he pulled Will back down to press another kiss to his lips. 

“You dork.”

  
  


**June**

“Welcome to Camp Jupiter,” Will said with a flourish of his hand. Nico rolled his eyes. 

“That name is so dumb. It’s not even Space Camp.”

Will laughed. “You’ve got us there. Come on, let me show you the pier.”

He bound ahead, looking not dissimilar to a golden retriever in his brand new bright orange Camp t-shirt. His old shirt was shoved under Nico’s pillow, fairly well worn, although Nico might not admit to that freely. 

He watched as Will ran ahead, before catching his eyes on a face he recognised. 

“Will!”

“Lou Ellen!” Will said, skidding to a halt and smiling brightly, waving as his fellow camp counsellor wandered up to the two of them. 

She was wearing the same shirt as Will, hers cropped at the waist. Nico stood off to the side as she gave Will a hug, rambling on about the last time she had seen him, how his exams went, that kind of thing, before Nico caught her eyes darting to his. 

  
“I don’t think you’ve introduced me and your friend yet,” she said, giving Nico a bright smile. He nodded at her, just once.

“This is my- uh,” Will began, before sharply cutting himself off, stumbling with wide eyes. “Nico.”

“ _ Your _ Nico?” Lou Ellen teased, a gleam in her eye that reminded Nico startlingly of Hazel. Her eyes darted between the two of them. 

Nico took a breath.

“Yeah,” he said, glancing up at Will from the corner of his eye. “His.”

Will turned his head - very unsubtly, Nico thought - to look at him, and slowly, a smile broke across his face. 

“Yeah. Mine.”

-

Will had led them down a twisting path, tucked into the woods. Lou Ellen had waved them off, saying Will wasn’t quite needed yet, and should enjoy showing  _ his Nico  _ around.

The path curved off to the left, deeper into the trees and away from the camp, but it hadn’t been long before Nico lost his sense of direction. Carefully, Nico followed Will down a small hill, through a nearly imperceptible path. 

“The campers aren’t allowed here,” WIll explained as they walked. “Too far out.”

Nico nodded. The trees were thick around them. He was surprised Will even knew where he was going. It didn’t look even slightly like a path. But still, he seemed to know exactly what he was doing and where he was going, even when Nico had no idea where they had even started.

He looked up at Will - his friend? roommate? person he went on some dates with? guy that kissed him up against their front door? - and watched him carry on along the twisting gravel.

“So,” Will said, leaning forward to duck under thick, heavy branches as they wandered through the tree covered path. “My Nico?”

“You started it,” Nico said, grumbling. “But yeah. I...” 

He trailed off, letting the silence between them grow. Will said nothing as he continued to walk, waiting patiently for Nico to continue. 

He sighed. He hated the warm weather, mostly for the lack of jackets to hunch himself into and attempt to hide. 

It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable; he just had no idea how to find the right words. 

He had no idea how to do _anything,_ not at all. Least of all around Will.

He said nothing, and neither did Will. 

Will stopped, reaching an arm out in front of Nico. He didn’t touch him, and where Nico would have once been grateful, right now it made him want to scream. 

He wanted to know what he wanted.  He wanted to know what  _ Will  _ wanted.

“Up there,” Will said, pointing up ahead to a small stream of water flowing barely a meter wide. Nico watched as he leapt across in a single bound, long legs stretching over the water, before turning back to Nico. 

Gently, Will offered him his hand. 

Gently, so, so gently, Nico took it. 

In the quiet, Will gently tugged Nico up another slope into a clearing.

Nico let out a soft breath. 

He could see the whole lake, stretching out ahead of them until it turned into a gentle beach banked against the pine trees. He could see the camp, with the long pier and canoes stretching out into the water, and colourful flags twisting in the breeze. 

“It’s beautiful,” he said, voice soft. Will made a noise of affirmation. 

He felt Will’s eyes on him. 

“What’re you looking at?” Nico said, looking up at Will. He pulled his hand to his face, making a noise of confusion when Will’s came with it. 

“Oh,” he said, looking at their hands, still interlinked.

He considered Will. 

“Will,” Nico said.

“Nico,” he replied. Then, with a laugh; “ _ My _ Nico.”

Nico felt a smile tug at his lips, impulsively, as it had been doing every time a grin broke out across Will’s face.

“When you say I’m yours,” he said, running his thumb over Will’s knuckles almost absentmindedly. “What do you mean?”

Will let out a breath that sounded gentle, as gentle as a sigh. 

“Whatever you want, Nico,” he said. 

“That’s unhelpful,” Nico replied, with a small laugh. 

“No,” Will said, suddenly sounding almost serious. “I will be whatever you want me to be. You just have to ask.”

Nico’s heart fluttered; he sucked in a slow, deep breath. _Tired of hiding._

“My boyfriend?” he asked, hoping Will couldn’t feel his hand shaking.

Will smiled, a singular, spectacularly bright smile. 

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he said, laughing gently. “I’d - yeah. I’d really like that.”

  
  
Nico felt butterflies in his chest, and where once they had threatened to tear him down, it now seemed like they couldn’t wait for him to be free so they could fly with him. 

“Will-” 

“Can I kiss you?” Will said, cutting him off with what was nearly a gasp, and Nico was nodding before he even finished. 

And then Will’s hands were on his face, and this time _Nico_ gasped, letting Will pull him forward and up and towards him to kiss him once, twice, again and again and again. 

He smiled against Will’s lips, and he felt him laugh with him. He reached up, hands reaching towards Will’s blonde curls that really were as soft as they looked, and Will seemed to just melt against him, tightening his hands where they had come to rest gently, _so_ gently, on Nico’s waist. 

And  _ oh,  _ this is what he had wanted. 

He stepped forward once, twice, leaning into the kiss because this  _ is  _ what he had been wanting, not just the kiss but  _ Will,  _ and -

_ “Fuck!” _

He swung his hand out as his foot stepped down onto nothing, grabbing out blindly before he started to free fall. 

His hand hit something solid, grabbing onto it - 

It fell into the lake with him. 

Nico spluttered as his head broke the surface, hair sticking damp onto his forehead. Will resurfaced next to him, coughing up water with wet curls plastered to his face. 

“That was your fucking fault,” Nico muttered, and Will laughed, like a ringing bell, and Nico kept on smiling. 

**July**

“Nico’s here!” Annabeth called, into the nebulous void that was Reyna’s home. The cry was met with distant cheers of people already deep into the wine. 

Nico rolled his eyes. 

“Is Will?” a voice called. 

“Hello!” Will replied, pausing as he shuffled off his shoes. A cheer rippled through the house. 

A head poked out of the dining room, and Percy grinned. 

“You need to come settle a medical debate,” he said. Will blinked. 

“Oh boy,” he muttered, glancing at Nico. “Wish me luck.” 

Nico rolled his eyes, waving at him and Annabeth to go ahead. Quietly, he slipped down the hall towards the kitchen. 

“Hey,” a voice said, stopping him in his tracks. 

Thalia was leaning over the banister of the stairs, carrying an unopened case of beers down from upstairs. 

“Don’t hide all day,” she said, her sharp eyes meeting his with a challenge glinting in them.

“I won’t,” he said, relaxing his shoulders where they had impulsively tensed. "Just going to say hi to the birthday girl.”

Thalia grinned. 

“See you in there, man.”

He shuffled the rest of the way down the hall, chewing the inside of his cheek. 

He was getting a bit bored of hiding all the time, anyway. 

“Happy Birthday,” he said, sliding up behind Reyna and making her jump. She turned to glare at him. “Are they really making you cook at your own party?”

She shrugged. “I wanted to eat something that tasted good, so I’m doing this by choice.”

Nico snorted, peering over her shoulder to look at the bubbling pot before him. “And I will not complain. What’s on the menu-”

He cut himself off, eyes catching on a glint of silver on her hand. A small, glinting ring on her pinky finger. It looked familiar. 

“That’s new,” he said, nodding at her hand. She glanced down at it, like she had forgotten it was on her wrist. He could see her cheeks flush. 

“A birthday gift,” she said, quietly. “From Thalia.”

“It’s beautiful,” he said, looking up at her. She was focusing on the pan in front of her. “Is it-”

“It’s not an engagement ring,” she said, cutting him off. He blinked. 

“I didn’t say it was,” he said, raising an eyebrow in a challenge. She glared. 

The kitchen grew quiet, with the walls muffling the noise of debate and delight in the room over. 

“Did you want it to be?”

He could see her shoulders rise and fall with an audible sigh. 

“You know I’m going for a PhD straight after this. I can’t plan a wedding,” she said. Nico nodded, allowing her to go on. He could feel it when she was itching to keep talking. 

“Maybe, after -”

Nico grinned. 

“Do I get to be a brides-man?”

“Of course,” she said with a laugh, glancing at him. “But you’ll have to fight with Jason for Best Man.”

“I could take him in a fight,” he said, raising his fists as if he had any shot at beating Jason. Or Reyna, for that matter. 

He watched as she laughed at him, smiling to herself. The ring on her hand glinted in the light streaming through the windows, and Nico smiled. 

He was happy for her: he always had been, when he saw her leaning against Thalia and holding her hand. 

He took a breath, and slowly, began to understand. 

He had wanted to know what it was that he wanted. 

And it was never just to kiss Will, or even to be able to kiss Will  _ casually.  _ And as much as he  _ wanted  _ Will, that had never been all there was to it. 

What he wanted, he realised, was what Thalia and Reyna had. 

  
He looked at her now, a gleaming silver ring proudly displayed on her pinky, for herself as much as for her friends, with her partner in the room over with everyone she loved. Her family. 

More than the casual intimacy, or the affection, he wanted the friends that came with it. The friends that  _ knew _ , and didn’t care. Or rather - the friends that knew, and did care, because they saw how happy she was with Thalia. 

When he said he wanted what Reyna had, he didn’t just mean someone like Thalia. 

He wanted the quiet confidence that she carried with her everywhere, with or without or in spite of or _because of_ the woman she loved. 

He wanted what she had. 

“I’ve been seeing someone,” he said, shattering the silence that had easily covered the two of them in his desperation to get the words out.

Reyna blinked, as if she hadn’t been expecting him to say anything. She looked at him with an eyebrow raised. 

“Oh?” she asked, a practised reply.

“Yeah.”

She made a soft noise, prompting him to go on. He caught her eye, and it glinted in the light. A warm breeze swept through the open windows, drawing the curtains towards the centre of the room. 

The look she gave him was steady, measured. 

Practised. 

“You already know,” he said, voice soft; quiet. Her lip twitched up in a faint smile. 

“I don’t intend to assume anything about who you are,” she said. “Not until you tell me.” 

He let himself be quiet, taking a moment to breathe, to think. 

This didn’t feel at all like it had when Jason found out. Nothing like the panic when he told Hazel, or Frank, or even when he told Will. 

He felt, for once in his life, like he could breathe. 

“And if I never do?”

She shrugged. 

“Then you don’t, and it’s not my business.” 

Nico felt himself nod, absentmindedly. 

“But you always can, Nico,” she said. “Always. As many times as you have to."

He stayed quiet, letting her words gently settle over him like a blanket. 

_ Always.  _

_ As many times as you have to.  _

“This is done,” she said, pushing herself up to stand straight and turning off the stove. “Grab the door?”

He trailed after her, still in his thoughts, reaching out to the door handle. On the other side of it he could hear yelling, something about genetic engineering and duck sized horses. Will’s voice, at a volume that only seemed to rival Percy’s enthused yelling. 

He paused, leaving his hand hovering above the door handle. 

“Reyna,” he said, turning around to catch her eye directly. She met his gaze evenly. “Did you know it was Will?”

Faintly, she smiled, and he could see the smallest shadow of nod before she shrugged.

“I knew he would ask you out,” she said, readjusting the pan in her hands. “And I had a pretty good feeling you’d find yourself wanting to say yes.”

Nico felt himself laugh, then, a soft sound. 

“I guess not even you can always be right," he said, grinning at her. 

She raised an eyebrow; a challenging look. “Oh?”

“Technically,” he said, opening the door to a room full of his friends, where they sat arguing. His eyes immediately found Will, where he sat across from Percy rolling his eyes aggressively.  He had no doubt that Reyna would hear him over their shouting. 

“Technically, I asked him. He was the one that said yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh oh my god. 
> 
> Okay, so: there's one more short chapter after this that I'll probably get up ASAP!
> 
> Please do yell at me on tumblr @ americanbeautiies


	11. Next Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, this is a short, proper epilogue, and takes place a year on from the rest of the story. Enjoy!

**June**

“Babe, have you seen my sunglasses?”

“They’re in the kitchen,” Nico called, sprawled out on their sofa. 

from: Reyna (9:02)

_We’re outside_

“Reyna and Thalia are here. We should go soon,” he said, glancing up as Will wandered in from his bedroom. Nico’s bedroom still largely looked the same, but it didn’t see much use these days. 

“Kay,” he murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to Nico’s forehead. 

Nico smiled, watching Will walk through to their kitchen. He looked good. 

“You ready?” Will asked, sliding his sunglasses onto his forehead and pushing up his unruly blonde curls. 

Nico slid off the sofa, walking up to his boyfriend and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Will smiled, reaching out to take Nico’s hand, and Nico held it. 

“Yup.”

-

Pride in their city wasn’t huge, but it was well attended. It meant it was easy enough to find a spot to watch the march, without too much hassle. 

“Are you ready to graduate?” Thalia asked, leaning her forearms against the barrier in front of them. Nico could feel her eyes on him, a gentle gaze. 

“Yeah, actually,” Nico said, eyes on a group of teenagers across the road from them. Two of them held hands, leaning up against each other casually. “Really ready.”

“He’s going to grad school,” Reyna said, leaning down between them. The purple and grey striped flag tied around her neck swished as she moved, gently covering Nico. 

Thalia gasped, pushing herself up. 

“No way! Congrats, Nico-”

He rolled his eyes, feeling his cheeks flush. “Reyna-”

“No, stop that - I’m allowed to be proud of my little protegé,” she said, shaking her hand at him like a sage old grandmother. 

“Hey,” a voice called, before a body lent against Nico’s back, pressing a kiss the top of his head. He rolled his eyes but glanced up, looking at the underside of Will’s face. 

“I got face paint,” Will said, grinning down at the three of them. “Who wants some?” 

He had seemingly already taken the small striped block to his arms and cheeks, covering himself in rainbow stripes. A small, tricolour flag stuck out of his pocket, and it matched the one hung up on his bedroom wall that Nico had gotten him for his birthday.

This time last year, Nico had said a firm _no_ when Will had offered to draw rainbow stripes on his arms. This time last year, Will had smiled at him wordlessly, and offered it to Reyna. 

This time last year, Nico regretted it. 

Nico looked out across the street at the group of teenagers he had spotted earlier. They looked about 15, maybe 16?

_Where was I at 16?_

He glanced back at Will, where he had already begun drawing a rainbow down Thalia’s cheek. She grinned, laughing at something Reyna had said to her, making Will whine that she had messed it up. 

Nico leaned up, pressing a kiss to the underside of his boyfriend’s jaw, drawing his attention away from Thalia for the briefest of seconds. Nico could feel him smile.

"Can you put some on me, Will?"

"Sure thing, hon."

 _Not thinking I’d have a boyfriend this hot,_ he thought, before shutting down the rest of the nostalgia that threatened to swallow him up.

Today was for thinking about the future. 

-

**July**

“Nico fuckin’ di Angelo!” Leo cried, jumping onto his fellow graduate. Nico accepted the hug, dropping his newly acquired degree. 

“You can’t just drop it,” Frank muttered from where he walked just behind Leo, picking up their degrees until he had a stack of three. 

“There they are!” 

Nico looked up from around his armful of Leo, but he only had so much warning before Thalia and Percy launched themselves onto the bundle of graduates. 

“Oh my god-”

“You’re going to crush my _boyfriend-”_

“Two more to go,” Percy said, ruffling Hazel’s hair. She rolled her eyes. 

“You’re next,” Nico murmured, looking up to Will and pressing a kiss against his jaw. 

“Time for a group photo?” 

“Ah, Ms. Zhang, it’s lovely to see you! Would you mind taking a photo of us?”

“Jason, my mom isn’t a _photographer-”_

“Grads in the middle,” Annabeth said, shoving Nico towards Frank and Leo. 

“I’m so proud of you,” Will murmured, leaning his arm on Nico’s shoulder. For once, focusing on the camera before him, Nico didn’t shake him off.

“Okay, three-”

“Nico,” 

“Two-"

“Hm?”

“One-”

“I love you,” Will said, softly, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

-

Of all the photos taken that day, Nico’s favourite was their first attempt.

Hazel was on the right, arms wrapped around Frank’s, where he stood still holding all three of the degrees from that ceremony. 

Thalia and Reyna stood behind him, leaning on each other and grinning wide at the trio before them, and each other.

Percy on the left, had thrown one arm over Leo’s shoulder, with his other wrapped around Annabeth’s waist.

Behind Leo; Jason, Piper, arms wrapped around each other and the grad stood before them.

Nico was in the middle, for that first one. 

In that photo, Will stood with a small, soft smile. Nico was tempted to call it _delicate,_ but it really felt best described as just plain _sappy._

His lips were pressed to Nico’s forehead, after he had told Nico that he loved him.

As that photo was taken, there just wasn’t the time to stop to look of shock tearing across his face, as his heart swelled. Not because he didn’t believe the word's Will whispered in his ear, but because, for once, he knew for _certain_ that it was true. 

By any professional standard, the photo had been ruined. 

His dad would have _hated_ it, but that was fine, because he wasn’t getting sent any copies. 

It was Nico’s favourite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done, and I am EMOTIONAL. 
> 
> This has just been such a big big piece of work that I actually put so much into in terms of emotions and my own thoughts and feelings and experiences (namely about what it's like to be queer and closeted and afraid and feel like you're unloved but still falling in love and not knowing it). 
> 
> And also, this is the first thing I've written in SUCH a long time, and I was just happy writing and putting it somewhere, because I felt a drive to actually finish something, which I haven't in a while, but it was also so well received? And even if it wasn't top for kudos every time someone commented I was reminded that a WHOLE person had read the work I wrote and felt the desire to comment. So honestly, more than anything, if you commented, or read a chapter, or read ALL of it: thank you so, so much! 
> 
> I don't quite know what's next, but I'd love to hear suggestions and ideas and prompts from anyone who read and liked this <3 
> 
> Okay, sappiness done. I hope you enjoy, and as always: 
> 
> Come yell at me on tumblr @ americanbeautiies

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to yell about this with me on tumblr @ americanbeautiies


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